Supercharged
by Sinvisigoth
Summary: Bella/Jasper. AU. Bella & Jasper meet in a non-conventional way and Jasper is intrigued. Who is she running from? She is more than she seems and he doesn't realise just how much they have in common.
1. Chapter 1

**This is just a pleasant little Bella/Jasper fic. There might be a few twists and turns and there will be lemons later but I'm just using it to take my mind off things while I'm writing Broken Saints because that's taking a lot out of me and I need an occasional escape. That being the case, updates to this one might be erratic.**

**~Sin~**

**Supercharged**

**Chapter One**

**JPov**

There used to be more joy in it than this. Driving was always the one thing that made me feel most free. Now it felt like a failing attempt at escape. And the faster I drove the faster my ghosts flew after me. I was so intent on fleeing them that I didn't see the oncoming car into whose lane I had drifted until it was too late. There was a flash of colour and I saw the black Lotus in my rear-view mirror as it plunged gracelessly into the ditch. I jammed on the brakes, thankful for vampire reflexes and for the fact that we were the only two vehicles on the road, and reversed quickly to where the car's rear end protruded from the ditch, its wheels spinning to a stop. I exited the car quickly, looking for the driver.

My brain stuttered in panic as I approached and saw a mane of dark brown hair, the owner with her head in her hands and wracked with great sobs. The panic soared as I realised that I couldn't read any emotions coming from her at all. That was a first and I was willing to bet that it was not a good sign. I started to stammer an apology and swiftly changed it to an offer to call for an ambulance; she must be very badly hurt if the pain was making her cry that hard.

I held my breath as I reached her, touching her arm gingerly, and my world imploded when she looked up at me. Sparkling, intelligent brown eyes looked out under long lashes, a cute nose and a rosebud mouth were distended with her sobs of…laughter? There was a small stab of fleeting recognition from her as her eyes found mine but it was gone in an instant. I would worry about that later. Another fit came over her and she bent forward over the wheel, laughing hard enough that she shook.

"Oh, oh god. Sorry." She wiped at her face and tried to clamber out of the car. She fell back again and looked at her legs in a bemused manner.

"I'm Jasper I'm so sorry are you OK can I help?" As introductions went this one was smooth with a capital smoo.

"I'm Bella that's OK yes and I could do with a hand." She managed solemnly before another giggle escaped. I managed an uncertain smile, still not sure why it was funny. Not complaining, obviously; laughter was much better than the alternative, which on my approach to the car I had thought might involve the words 'mangled' and 'amputation'. I raised an eyebrow.

"Aw. C'mon," she said, tilting her head in a way that both jumpstarted and stopped my dead heart several times in roughly a third of a second. "The only two cars on the road, I end up in the ditch and you look like you want to throw yourself under a train in penance? Hilarious though it is, however, if you don't mind I'd like to leave my day's excitement at this." She smiled a sweet, clear smile of good humour, irony and forgiveness and I felt feeling return to my body again.

I reached out a hand as she tried again to exit the car. Luckily the roof was down and when her pushing didn't work as well as she'd hoped I quickly pulled her over the edge of the door. As I removed my hands she raised her head, gave me a brilliant smile, said "Thanks, I…" and promptly sunk to the floor, white as a sheet and just as conscious. My brain was taking a short vacation but my arms succeeded in preventing her from falling face first in the thick mud.

I crouched there for a couple of minutes hoping that her eyes would open, until my throat told me that my control would elope with my brain if I didn't stand up right this second. There was nothing for it but to lift her as I stood. As I did I heard her blood withdrawing from her extremities and felt her flesh growing a little colder. Her scent diminished mercifully as her body sought to protect itself from the trauma it had suffered.

Thankfully my legs cooperated when I ordered them to take us both to the passenger side of my own car. Had she been awake I thought she might have appreciated the brief comedy of opening a car door with an unconscious woman in my arms. As it was she only missed it by seconds as she was muttering quietly, awakening, as I slid into my own seat.

I'd always thought that being unconscious looked quite undignified but this preconception was altered forever as I watched her small pink tongue moisten her lower lip and her eyes, large and unfocused, opened and fixed on me after a brief search of the car's interior. I ignored the something that happened deep down inside me as her pupils dilated when they locked their gaze on me.

"Hi again." She smiled, slightly wonky but still enchanting.

"Hi. I'm just calling an ambulance; do you want some water before they get here?" I waggled my phone and pointed at a water bottle at the same time.

"No." she shook her head and trembled hard enough that her knuckles clacked against the door, making her wince. "I really don't need an ambulance; this is just shock."

"Um. Well, I really think it might be…"

"Honestly. I didn't bump anything and if I can just get warm and stop shaking I'll be fine." She was even paler now and her teeth were chattering with the force of her body trying to make sense of the fact that it had been sure it was about to die but had not.

"In that case perhaps we should address the fact that there is no way on Earth you are going to get warm covered in all that mud." I quirked a brow toward her ensemble. What had been black jeans and a white sweater were now a mottled 'ditch brown' with patches of 'puddle grey'. On top of that she was soaked through to the skin with the icy water that had filled the ditch. The corners of her mouth turned up and she nodded her assent.

"What about my car?" she asked, clutching her arms across her chest as another huge shiver shook her from head to toe.

"I live just down the road. I'll get you something warm to wear and a hot drink and then come back with my tractor and pull it out. Sound good?" I found a small picnic blanket to drape across her.

"Yes. You have a tractor?" Her eyes lit up a little.

"Oh yes." I nodded solemnly. What man worth his salt didn't have a tractor?

"Cool." she managed before cold and exhaustion took her.

I drove quickly but carefully up the winding drive of my ranch, mindful of the snow that banked either side of the road. I crunched over iced up gravel and stopped as close to the house as I could. She was still out of it and I crushed down the gladness that some deep part of me felt at the prospect of picking her up again. I'd vowed never to enjoy the touch of a woman again and put enjoying holding one into that category. She woke again as I carried her up the huge, curved staircase and smiled at me sleepily. I felt her body start trembling once more, quite violently, but there was a little more colour in her cheeks.

I kicked open a door and put her down gently on the spare bed, moving to a wardrobe. I pulled out a pair of tracksuit bottoms, a t-shirt and a luxuriously thick sweater. I laid them on the bed next to her.

"Can you manage?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, I think so. It might take me longer to get changed than it'll take you to haul my car out of the ditch but I'll get there." She seemed to find the trembling somewhat embarrassing as she spoke through partly clenched teeth.

"Well, I'll light the fire in the lounge so if you get done before me you can make your way down there and warm up. I'll be back in two secs with some tea and I reckon I'll be gone for about half an hour as long as your car isn't stuck on anything."

"OK. It is Jasper, yes?" I nodded. "Thanks, Jasper." She smiled and squeezed my hand gently. The chill of her own skin seemed to stop her from noticing the eternal coldness of mine.

"I drive you off the road and you thank me? Lady you're a one-off."

"So I've been told." She grinned and her eyes sparkled with good humour. I found myself grinning in response and giving her hand a squeeze before I left the room.

When I came back a few minutes later with a mug of hot, sugared tea I knocked and went in, finding that she'd taken off her boots and socks and was rubbing her feet with a soft towel. She almost dropped the mug as she took it and I had to hold both of my hands around hers and the mug until she was steadier. I made my goodbyes and went off to deal with her car. I did have a tractor, I just had no intention of using it when I could easily pull her little car out of the ditch with one hand. But she didn't need to know that.

It was forty-five minutes later when I stepped back into the house again, shaking bits of leaf from my unruly hair. I looked up just in time to see Bella step off the last stair onto the slab floor, do a strange little dance to the tune of "hoo hoo ha ha!" and leap back onto the stairs again. She looked up and blushed a little at having been caught doing something so undignified, but her sense of humour won through and she smiled.

"Stay there one moment, darlin'." I said with a smirk, disappearing into the laundry room. I returned with a pair of thick, warm socks. I bent and pulled one and then the other over her small feet. We both laughed as the heels ended up mid-calf. I inclined my head and offered my arm. She took it and allowed me to lead her across the flagstones onto the rich old rug which marked the edge of the lounge. It was a huge room with solid timber beams and pillars, a massive stone fireplace glowing and crackling as the logs burnt. I pulled a thick quilt from a chest and motioned for her to wrap herself in it. Then I made a pile of cushions as close to the fire as I dared and held her hand as she lowered herself onto it.

"Aaah." She sighed in sheer ecstasy as she sank into the softness and warmth.

Although she seemed comfortable I was worried about how cold she still was. Her hands and feet were like blocks of ice and I wasn't sure that shock was meant to last this long. I spread my hands a few millimetres from the flames of the fire for a few minutes, then sat cross-legged next to her. I started to rub her hands between mine, bending and unbending her fingers, cupping them together and rewarming my hands every five minutes or so.

She dozed as I did this and, when I was finally satisfied that her extremities were warm enough, I found that the scent of her blood that had been kept at bay this long by the chill in her flesh had surfaced with a vengeance. I'd never smelled a scent quite this alluring in all my time as a vampire. Her scent was musky and feminine, with a thread of wildflowers and cloudberries. I sighed in resignation. She smelled like sex, flowers and fruit. Fuck my life. This was only going to get harder. I pinched back the burn in my throat and my heart sank as I realised something that was only going to exacerbate the thirst that was swirling through me.

Not only was one of my hands clasped firmly in one of hers, but she was completely asleep, her grip surprisingly vicelike for a human, and a small one at that. I could have torn my hand from hers but found that I didn't want to. I excused that particular notion away by convincing myself that I didn't want to wake her up and answer any questions about the force I would have had to use.

I did the only thing I could think of; I lay down next to her and looked at her. Her face, a small smile on her lips, was the last thing I saw before I coaxed my mind into a meditative state, the closest our kind could get to sleeping. While I lay there I allowed my mind to wander through a landscape of jumbled images and memories. I didn't remember dreaming as a human but had worked hard with Edward many years ago to find the closest approximation.

My senses remained aware but I was as relaxed as it was possible to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Nothing much happening in this chapter other than some getting to know each other. I have had a couple ideas for this story, though, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you so I'll be updating a little faster with the next chapter. A massive thank you to those of you who reviewed the first chapter and who put this on your favourites or story alerts; this has had a huge response and I wasn't expecting that at all. Enjoy.**

**~Sin~**

**PS. It's half three in the morning so please forgive any errors; I will correct them when I reread this at a time when I'm a little more conscious.**

**Supercharged**

**Chapter Two**

**JPov**

I chose to 'wake' around nine. Everything about my current situation felt wonderful yet thoroughly confusing. I was warm and horizontal, on the floor of my living room, under a quilt with someone else in there with me. That last part was very new. And equally problematic. I hadn't shared a bed for over four years, not since Alice forced me out of the family. I had _never_ shared a bed with a human.

I looked down to see a beautiful sleeping face only centimetres from my own. My initial reaction was to get the hell out of there but I forced myself to think for a second. It was a little precarious, judging from the response from certain parts of my anatomy, but overall a positive experience. When she stretched a little and slung a warm arm around my neck, bringing her softly pulsing wrist within reach of my teeth, I decided that a little distance might be in order as praying fervently for sleep or death was not going to work. I moved her arm off my neck and shuffled a little farther away from her, leaving only our feet and knees touching.

This seemed to work, although every part of me that had formerly been in contact with her groaned in protest. That said, while the less innocent pleasure was gone, the general contentment remained. Having learned years ago exactly what Hell entailed, I thought that perhaps this was heaven. From the brief glimpses of feeling that were seeping from her while she had no conscious hold on the world, I guessed that the soft, sleeping body next to me was dreaming a rough parallel.

Whatever minute movements I had made were waking her up so I remained silent until her eyes opened. It took a few seconds to gather her wits and then she smiled. She stretched what looked like the most satisfying stretch in the history of stretching. It was catching, like a yawn, and I found my limbs doing the same. Without the human waxing and waning of muscular energy levels, it hadn't the same effect on me. I had to admit, though, that my long dead body still had some memory of the motion and tried to flash a brief sense of satisfaction through my limbs. I made a mental note to try that move again sometime; if mind and body worked best in harmony, maybe regaining my humanity would be easier if I felt more human.

"Good morning." she said, resting one hand between us, closer to me than to herself but not touching. "I'm assuming we both slept pretty well."

"I think you're right." I nodded. There was no need for her to know that she had been the only one asleep. Although I didn't plan on her being around for that long, for some reason I didn't want to move from attacker-cum-knight-in-shining-armour to creepy-sleep-watching-guy by giving too much away. "I'm sure I came to for a few seconds at some point but I'd guess that our little vehicular run-in yesterday had the same effect on both of us."

"Mm-hmm." Her non-committal noise was accompanied by a small burst of amusement which was quickly quashed by a pang of guilt. Another mystery. "So does your hospitality run to breakfast as well?"

"Most certainly. How about…tea, shower and breakfast?"

"Even better. How come I suddenly feel like I've run a marathon?"

"You sleep run?"

"Possible. But I think the demonstrable lack of leaves and mud would counter that theory." She grinned. "Who knew that recuperating could be this exhausting?"

I chuckled and extricated myself briefly in order to make her some tea. I sat cross-legged on the cushions while she balanced on one side with her small hands gripping the hot mug. We talked without pause until it was time to go freshen up.

**BPov**

Outside the bathroom I found towels and – thankfully! – a brand new pair of jeans in my size and a soft, white sweater. I smiled at the kindness, realising why he had been gone three quarters of an hour the day before but had mentioned later that getting my car out of the ditch had taken only fifteen minutes. I had a flash of panic when I realised that certain important items that had been in the trunk would have to be checked for damage as soon as possible. I wasn't going to last long without them and I had no money or contacts in this area to acquire replacements.

That could wait. A blistering hot shower was way more important right now and my head would be a good deal more clear afterwards. I opened the door and had to check to see if I were drooling. Black granite surfaces gleamed as if wet and the gold-shot, ivory marble floor led the eye to an entire wall made of glass. My feet made no sound on the smooth slabs as I crossed quickly to the window, partly to ensure that there would be no witnesses to my ablutions, but mostly because that wide eye on the world begged to be looked through. I was not disappointed. Beyond the grounds of the ranch house, snow quilted fields slept under the unflinching cover of winter and nudged at the foot of a great mountain range whose rugged slopes were ancient and inscrutable. An inscrutable witness I could deal with, and there was a rain shower with my name on it.

Every muscle, pore and tendon gradually awakened under the caress of the water. My skin flushed everywhere it hit and I could feel my blood pumping to fill the capillaries as every inch of me blushed with heat and pleasure. The only shower gel I could find was a very masculine smelling one, so I washed myself and my hair with some caramel brazil nut bubble bath. It smelled so good it was all I could do to stop myself from eating the stuff. I giggled at the idea of smelling like caramel all day.

Once dry I realised that the black bra I'd had on the day before wouldn't do under the white sweater and so had to go without. The jeans were a good fit and softer than I'd expected. I'd hung them on the heated towel rail while I showered and they wrapped my legs in soft warmth. I ran my palms over my ass and thighs, closing my eyes at the warmth seeping into my skin as my exposed feet and arms leached heat emphasised the difference in temperature. I pulled Jasper's socks back on and made my way downstairs, running my fingers through my hair to detangle it and help it dry.

I walked through the living area and spied Jasper as he stood in the kitchen, tending to a skillet. He pretended not to notice me and I smiled inwardly. That was OK, he couldn't do that _and_ call me out for looking at him so I let my eyes roam for a moment. His dark blond hair was tousled and hung to halfway between the bottoms of his ears and the tops of his shoulders. Some of it fell in his face and it looked, although it should have been impossible, adorable. His jaw was hard and strong, his lips soft in concentration, though I had seen them pressed tight in determination the day before. His nose was straight and perfect and it flared slightly, though whether that was from the smell of what he was cooking or my presence I couldn't tell. There was a steely, muscular frame under the worn in jeans and thick jumper, and long, rangy limbs that were graceful without being effeminate. My circumstances may not have been the best, but if I was going to bump into someone, I could have done much worse. I walked forward and, after what I assumed he thought was an adequate pause, he looked up at me with a wide smile.

**JPov**

I looked up as she walked into the kitchen and couldn't help but grin; she looked as beautiful as yesterday but even more feminine. Other parts of me grinned as they noticed the lack of a bra under the jumper. My brain smacked them down and I asked her to keep an eye on the sausages while I took my turn in the shower. Thank god I'd kept up my former family's practice of keeping the house stocked with food for the sake of appearances, even if she was the first visitor since I'd bought the place. She took over and I bounded up the stairs to take what was possibly the quickest shower of my life. Once dressed again, this time in dark blue jeans and an Aran jumper, I hurried back down the stairs to find Bella serving up.

"Perfect timing." She smiled. I couldn't help but notice that her eyes took me in from head to toe before she turned back to the stove to hide a very slight blush. Was I imagining it or had certain parts of _her_ anatomy perked up on seeing me? Either way, although the issue of human food raised its own problems, I was glad of the distraction from having to think about whether or not I wanted her to leave. That was becoming an increasingly hazy issue.

I gestured her through to the airy, high ceilinged conservatory and followed with two plates of food. Bella couldn't stop looking around at the breathtaking views on all sides. While the back of the house was buttressed by an impressive range of mountains, the view at the front soared over fields and forests that dipped into a lush valley. The novelty had never worn off for me so I could understand her enchantment perfectly. Her trancelike communion with the Colorado countryside also gave me ample time to look at her. It bothered me slightly, or perhaps more than slightly, that I was beginning to find it hard _not_ to look at her, but I pushed it aside; after the events of the previous day the least I could do for her was be a gracious host while she restored her energy levels.

I tried to get away with as few mouthfuls as possible but was having to make a relatively realistic attempt as she'd not seen me eat anything at all since lunchtime the previous day. I noticed that her attention had drifted back to me again and that, while her smile remained genuine and her conversation light, every time I took a mouthful I felt a little stream of guilt run across the surface of the myriad emotions that swirled through her constantly.

"This is great, Jasper, thank you." she said in between bites. "I'd have happily eaten a horse, I was that hungry, but I'm glad I didn't have to."

"Well, no offense, but I like my horses and we just met; you don't warrant quite that much hospitality yet." I winked at her and took a particularly large mouthful, only just managing to keep the disgust I felt from showing on my face. Her guilt spiked and her eyes widened for a fraction of a second that would have been missed by anyone else. There was definitely something going on here, I just didn't know if I wanted to find out what. I had a horrible feeling that knowing any more details about her would make things…complicated.

There was more to her than she was letting me see, I was sure of that, but the parts I was seeing, her humour, kindness and ability to laugh at most things, including herself, were all genuine. Underneath all this, though, there was an undeniable sense of panic and purpose that, while tightly controlled, was strong enough that I knew it was not just an aftertaste from some recent event, but something of a driving force.

When we had finished, my plate unfortunately almost empty, she gave me a stern glance that bypassed my conscious mind, telling my ass directly to stay firmly in its seat as she took the dishes back to the kitchen. She returned with two more mugs of tea and as she lowered herself into her seat my brain finally thought of a way to put off the issue of her leaving for just a little longer.

"Would you like to go for a walk? All of this is just as pretty up close." I waved a hand at the expanse beyond the glass.

"I'd love to. I'm not keeping you from anything?"

"No. I'm actually so evil that I'm going to make you keep me company in return for breakfast. I'm still trying to think of something big enough to compensate for the loan of my socks."

"Oh man," she groaned extravagantly "I'd forgotten about those. I have visions of washing dishes and scrubbing floors for weeks." She threw back her head with a delighted laugh. At the sight of her swanlike, white throat I zoned out long enough to envision the thick, crimson blood pumping hotly just beneath the surface, probably all the stronger and more delectable now that she'd eaten. Her burst of amusement shook me out of my reverie and she raised one perfect eyebrow at me. Ah shit, she must have thought I was thinking about kissing her neck. Although…_damnit Whitlock, no more zoneouts_. I merely smirked and shrugged. Then nearly lost it again at the sound of her giggle. There were worse things for her to think, I figured.

Two hours later she was huffing thick white mist into the cold air as we climbed a steep hill and I was feeling a damn sight more comfortable having divested myself of the breakfast at the first opportunity. I had to admit, she looked incredibly cute – if slightly lost – in my big sheepskin jacket. Despite the heavy jacket and biting cold, she stunned me when she shinned straight up a particularly climbable tree. She sat on a thick branch grinning at me, explored a little and then dropped down.

I was trying. One really couldn't say that I wasn't. And this…this was just one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time. It always worked in the films; the gallant gentleman caught the damsel deftly as she dropped weightlessly from a great height. The reality of trying this when the damsel in question was in no distress whatsoever and didn't know that you were trying to catch her was…well it was messy.

Gasping like a fish, desperately trying to catch breath that I didn't even freakin' _need_, I struggled to convey this to the worried face currently peering anxiously into mine. She had hit me with more force than I had thought possible and knocked me on my back. Had I been more myself my traitorous body would in all likelihood have joyously greeted her straddled self. As it was, all parts of me were at present far more concerned about the fact that they'd had their collective ass kicked, albeit accidentally, by a human.

"Are you OK?" she asked, shifting dangerously on my hips.

"Possibly. I'll let you know when I get all the feeling back. Though considering how cold the ground is I fear my backside may be developing permafrost."

"Ah. This isn't one of those times where you declare a survival situation and say something cheesy about shared bodily warmth is it?" A huge spike of amusement burst from her and I felt her body tremble slightly with mirth.

If I'd been human I would have been blushing at that point.

"No, darlin'," I held her by the arms as I brought us both back up to our feet "my mama brought me up to be much more of a gentleman than that." I winked at her. Why the fuck did I do that? Her amusement was almost off the scale now but I didn't miss the fleeting speck of disappointment that coloured it.

"Are you OK? I did get you with quite a thump?" she turned me this way and that, checking for what exactly I didn't know, still amused and feeling a little…mischievous.

"I'm fine. Most definitely." I smiled, not feeling the cold and thoroughly lacking in bruises.

"Well, in that case…" She stepped close and lifted her face to mine. This was most unexpected and I gulped, not sure what the hell she was doing. _Jesus woman, do you have a death wish?_ I asked her mentally. She obviously didn't hear me because she licked her lips, shuffling closer and leaning into me in the most dizzying manner. She allowed her eyelids to droop slightly and she took one deep breath in through her nose before looking back into my eyes again "last one back to the house is a sissy."

I looked on, shocked, as she giggled and took off up the hill like a gazelle. Or rather, like a gazelle whose ass looked fabulous in jeans.

"You!" was all I could get out, my feet rooted to the spot for a few seconds before I started after her.

I could have been back at the house before she'd taken even two more strides, but where would the fun have been in that? Impressive for a human, though, she was very quick and not easily winded, making the top of the hill without even puffing hard. She glanced back at me with an easy grin but kept going. I pretended to stretch myself without actually closing the gap between us to less than a few metres. Reaching the house first, she ran up the wide wooden steps and celebrated in true Rocky style, fists raised victoriously. I jogged up the steps a few seconds later and tackled her, sweeping her over one shoulder.

"Hey no fair, I won!" she laughed, beating my back with her fists and appearing not to notice that my flesh was as unyielding as stone. I let her slide to the ground, keeping a light contact on her waist.

"So what did you win?" I asked.

"Well, I'm tempted to ask for something really big, but at this point just a mug of something hot will suffice. That do for you?" There was that mischief again, her eyes twinkled and I could practically feel her vibrating with whatever was going on in her head.

"Sounds good to me. Although I think we'll enjoy it more if we actually go inside." I smiled, comfortable enough to let her get on with whatever she was plotting and happy to have more time to get to know her. The part of me which wanted her to go the hell away before things got complicated was being beaten soundly over the head by the other parts of me that liked her smile and appreciated the way she jiggled under her sweater.

"You go stoke up the fire; I'll make the tea." She shooed me toward the living area once we were inside the front door and sashayed toward the kitchen.

I knelt before the fire, poking the remaining embers into one place and stacking small pieces of wood and logs around it. An upside to the fact that my body made no use of the oxygen I inhaled was that the breath I blew over the glowing coals was rich with it and therefore brought the fire to life with surprisingly little coaxing. By the time I heard her open the kitchen door it was roaring away, eating into the freshly stacked wood with enthusiasm.

I froze as a scent I recognised instantly hit my nostrils. My throat caught fire with more energy than the crackling logs and I felt dizzy all the way to my toes. Damnit. I'd been too caught up in lighting the fire and so immersed in the smell of the ash, wood and flames that I'd completely missed it. I stopped breathing through my nose and turned in panic to my guest as she made her way across the floor.

"Bella, are you OK? Did you…"

My sentence was cut short by the absolute shock that froze every mental process I possessed when she placed a mug of hot, lazily steaming blood in my hand. My mouth hung open in disbelief and for the first time in my long and perfect memory I was completely, utterly speechless.

She giggled and swiped a fingertip along the inside of my bottom lip, using the gleaming venom she gathered to seal the small wound on her wrist and licking the small remaining trace of blood from her skin.

"Just to make up for breakfast," She winked at me and settled back on the cushions. "To new friends." She clinked her mug against mine and took a sip of her tea. "Drink up. Don't want to waste the good stuff."

I did as I was told without thinking and actually moaned as Bella's blood hit the back of my throat. I swallowed reflexively and sank into rapture as fission kick-started my dead cells, causing them to leap first to attention and then to life. Not one single thought travelled along my synapses as I drained the mug in four long, sensual swallows. My eyes were closed and I could feel my whole body humming with the hot, scarlet life racing through it, communicating its presence within me in thousands of tiny, nuclear reactions.

When the innumerable internal implosions had died down to a dull, warm roar I opened my eyes, confused for a second, before they lit upon the woman in front of me. She was grinning widely. My vocabulary was still somewhat limited.

"Holy living fuck, woman!"

She collapsed into hysterical laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the last chapter; a huge thank you to those who took the time to tell me so. GuiltyButFlawless was chapter two's winner of best review and, as such, got a sneak peek. So, if you do review, best to do it while signed in so, just in case you win this chapter's preview, I actually have an account to send it to ;) **

**I had no idea what was going to happen at the end of the last chapter until about two minutes beforehand, I swear, so the fact that it was so well received is a massive bonus. Considering the response, I thought I wouldn't make you wait any longer than necessary for the next instalment.**

**  
Massive thanks go to the luscious Mistress Whitlock, without whose help I would have remained stuck and this chapter would likely have sucked ass. Try out her awesome story Making Us, link in my favourites.  
**

**~Sin~**

**Supercharged**

**Chapter Three**

**JPov**

The whole time she was rolling around on the floor and cackling like a ferret on helium, I was doing my best to panic quietly. _Could I keep sitting here without killing her?_ I had no idea. _Now that I'd tasted her blood, would I crave it every second of every day?_ Without a doubt. _Was it really necessary for her boobs to shimmy like that every time she started a fresh giggle?_ Oh my, yes. I scrunched my face up in concentration, which brought about a fresh round of giggling from my evil houseguest. The giggles subsided slowly, leaving her gasping for breath. After one long one, she chose to interrupt my meditative hysteria.

"Uh…Jasper? Are you OK? What are you thinking about?"

What was I thinking? Hmm. How best to answer that particular conundrum. _'What you did was very dangerous'_? _'Do you have any idea what I could have done to you? Killing you would have been the least unpleasant of several hundred things that I can think of just off the top of my head'_? _'I am changing your name to I-want-to-die-horribly-and-if-possible-without-dignity'_? I took a deep breath, opened my eyes and held her gaze firmly. I needed to get across to her just how irresponsible her actions had been, and at the same time drive home with some degree of credibility the nature of her gift's recipient. _Coz, darlin', I don't do touchy feely; I do ouchy bleedy_. I opened my mouth, intent on giving her a taste of exactly with whom she was fucking.

"I love your tits in that top." I squeaked.

Fuck. My. Life. So much for gravitas.

Her mouth dropped open and the cumulative effect of her ten minute long laughathon finally caught up with me. I squeaked again and dived headfirst under the quilt that still lay on the cushions, every muscle in my body rendered simultaneously useless as I laughed myself well beyond the boundaries of what a human body could have withstood. Certain vagaries of my skeletal system, and its necessary bendy bits, left my ass sticking in the air like a cat in heat while my lungs attempted to exit my chest through my nose.

After some time I became aware that I was being pounded repeatedly around the head with the largest of my own cushions. That seemed somewhat unfair. I pulled my head out suddenly and glared at my assailant. I assumed from her muffled snort that my hair looked like Doc Brown from Back to the Future. I did actually own a DeLorean, but at that point I would happily have torn off my own arms before telling her that.

"Bella," I swept a hand through my hair "as ludicrous as I probably looked just now, and as much as I would like to dwell more on laughter than danger, you need to know that what you did was not wise. Generous, yes, a good way of getting your point across, most certainly, but honestly, if I hadn't been so thoroughly shocked I would have killed you without a second thought. I am not known for my control, and what little I do have has been hard won. It is the result of a journey that has not been without its casualties." I winced inwardly at the thought of one such casualty. She had been small and fey, with wispy blonde hair and light green eyes. She had tasted of summer and had been the end of my marriage to Alice.

Bella shifted forward, crouching in front of me and bracing both hands on my knees to bring her eyes level with mine. She patted one knee indulgently.

"I know you're bad, honey, but I've been closer to meeting my maker than that and there's not much you can say right now that will erase from my mind the fact that you squeaked like a girl. So why don't we call it even for the time being and talk about something unrelated? How did you end up living in this big place all by yourself? For instance."

"You're seriously going to avoid the burning, searing question of how you knew what I was in favour of talking about me and my horses?" I gave her a gentle shove, causing her to fall and rock backwards on her ass before she righted herself. She tweaked one corner of her mouth up like Popeye and blew a wisp of hair out of her face.

"Well, we don't have to get into that, but I have a feeling that this is getting…complicated, and while I _think_ I can trust you, I don't _know_…and a little more information would go a long way." While her smile was open and genuine enough, the little lake of worry and subterfuge within her swirled murkily as she, once again, painted the elephant in the room a lovely shade of orange and called it a bollard.

I closed my eyes, concentrating on patience and putting my curiosity in a metaphorical straitjacket.

"I wish I had an interesting answer to that question, but honestly, my reasons for being here are really very…human." She quirked an eyebrow and made a rolling motion with one hand. "Horses are one of the few things I remember from my human life, something that has always calmed me to a level that nothing else has or does. I needed to escape when my marriage went down the toilet, and it was either this or becoming a wanderer again. So when it came time to make a fresh start, like most people I chose what I knew and made me feel at home. You know what the colour of my eyes means?"

She nodded. "Vegetarian. So are the horses just for working the ranch and for riding or do they double as a blood bank, too?"

"Riding and working only. I love them and I'd never feed from them. Although a couple of them are real bastards I don't think capital punishment is the way to go. I'd be lost without this place. I was a nomad a long time ago, and while it was better than the existence I'd left behind, I'd never go back to it. When you don't have one place that grounds you, to which you can return whether things are good or bad, you lose sight of what is and isn't acceptable. I've worked too hard to atone for the things I've done to risk losing myself again." I looked away, out through the open window, not being able to meet her gaze as I skimmed the surface of the truth.

"As much as I'm dying to know about the things you want to atone for, I have a feeling that I wouldn't get very far down that road without having to get into what I know and why, yes?"

"Fair's fair. Although, while I'll admit I'm intrigued, I also get the feeling that there's stuff going on with you that I'd be better off knowing. Am I right?" I asked over my shoulder, taking the mugs back to the kitchen to wash them. Although I'd drained mine, the residual scent was heady and I was becoming hard pressed to keep myself from being overwhelmed. When I had begun having to fight the urge to wipe the inside of the mug with a finger to get at the last fragrant smears, I knew that I had pushed my control as far as it was going to go today.

She followed me into the kitchen, hauling herself up to sit on the counter while I ran the mugs under the tap.

"You have no idea just how right. Don't take offense, but I don't need or want you involved with what I'm mixed up in. Nothing good could come of it. There are a couple things that I probably should tell you, but they might be pointless if I find that I don't need to impose on your hospitality any longer." She was kicking the cupboard door with her heels and the panic she'd felt only sporadically thus far was fast becoming a river that threatened to break its banks.

"Bella, when I brought you back here yesterday, although I was sorry for running you off the road and needed to know that you were OK before you left, I did _want_ you to leave. Very much. I hope you understand why." She nodded her head, her only ascertainable emotions acceptance and the ever present restless worry. "In less than twenty-four hours, you've gone from someone I needed to get the hell out of here to someone I would really like to hang around. Knowing what I am, I'm sure you can understand that I don't have an ulterior motive for asking you to stay a while, that I just want company."

"I do understand that, Jasper, more than you know. But I can't stay. I need to see if a few things in my trunk survived the ditch, and, if they did, I have to go as soon as I possibly can." She held up a hand as I took a breath to speak. "I know you believe that you're the dangerous one here. But if I stay I could bring down on you a whole slew of problems that have nothing to do with rogue nomads or Volturi."

What I felt from her then was something I had come to know intimately over the last fifteen decades. Her body had complied with the mental pictures she was no doubt playing in the theatre of her mind and had engaged her fight or flight response. Every single atom in her being was screaming RUN! She shuddered and her breathing quickened discernibly.

"Bella, I didn't question it at the time, just assumed that it was my fault, even though my vampire senses should have made it damn near impossible…but it wasn't me who was distracted when we crashed our cars, was it?" I heard her exhale, long and slow. "Darlin', what are you running from? If you know what vegetarian is then you must know what my scars mean, yet you truly believe that whomever could show up here at any moment could put the fear of god into me. Did you do something?"

"Yes and no. But maybe I should show you something first. It never hurts to have a few props." She looked defeated yet determined, as if the weight that had been lifted was just enough to keep the pressure she was under in some kind of equilibrium. "Can you show me where you put my car? There's some stuff in the trunk I need to check."

"Sure. It's out back in the garage. It doesn't seem to be much damaged. We can reach it through the utility room behind the stairs." I stood and held out my hand to pull her up.

She straightened and then held my eyes for a moment. Even without my gift it would have stunned me, the depth of feeling I found in her dark brown eyes. Twin chocolate galaxies held me immobile for moments that I couldn't count and didn't want to. She seemed to both be assuring herself of my intentions and sending me some encrypted promise to share a part of herself that I instinctively knew hadn't seen the light of day for a long time. She had learned from hard experience that whenever she had tried to share part of her life, the problem had invariably gotten worse. From this she had come to understand that it was up to her to solve her problems by herself.

I was caught in the binary stars of her eyes and, as they dilated, I felt part of what she saw in mine falling into them, pulled with intensity and purpose. It was like defeat without pain, victory with vanquish, a war with no enemy. I think she wanted to be sure that if she were going to part with some fraction of that secret, hidden place we all cherish within ourselves, she would have part of mine, too. And she did. Part of me lived in those eyes of hers now, and had I been ten times my age I could never have guessed that existing within another could feel so right and so safe.

She smiled then, the sun erupting from behind its eclipse and bringing the moment back. "Let's go."

**BPov**

The garage was dark but without that musty smell that one normally associates with any kind of storage space. I felt relief when the lights flickered to life and I could see my baby again. Trailing a finger over her gleaming black bodywork, I realised that I had needed to see her and should not have left it so long.

At the same time, I felt horribly guilty. This time yesterday I wouldn't have dreamed that I would be blessed with company and conversation, let alone someone who seemed willing to put himself blindly in harm's way for someone he didn't know. I gulped and a couple of tears pricked my eyes. Stupid human body. I managed to inhale strongly enough to be able to avoid sniffing, but Jasper didn't miss much.

He cocked his head to one side at the very same moment that I felt, more strongly than I had ever before, that I would have given anything at that moment for him to take me in his arms and either comfort me or crush me. I couldn't tell which of those was more appealing so I remained motionless, giving him only a small smile and a nod.

He opened the driver's door and pulled the mechanism in the doorwell that released the trunk, standing back as he did so to allow me to peruse the trunk's contents unsupervised.

With the trunk propped open I was able to see that very little of the icy contents of the ditch had made their way inside the car. Unfortunately, what had managed to seep in had pooled all around the most important item. I grabbed the laptop case and almost sobbed as I saw the filthy water running out of its crevices. There was no way my computer was going to be OK. How in fuck was I going to dry and fix it out in the middle of nowhere?

**JPov**

Something wasn't right. Her absolute horror over the wet piece of luggage seemed out of proportion. I was guessing it didn't contain clothes. No, whatever was in there was something she needed, and needed desperately. I tried to send a little calm across to smooth out all the sharp edges of which she suddenly seemed to be made but the effect was minimal. I settled for the traditional approach.

"Bella," I rested a gentle, open hand on her arm, moving slowly and talking low and soft. "whatever is in there, however badly it's damaged, we'll deal with it, OK? We'll take all of this stuff inside, we'll sit down and do a triage and once we know what is damaged and what isn't, we will deal with it. I don't know if you want help, but I know that you need it, and I'm not going to let you throw yourself to the wolves, especially without something you seem to need." Her breath shuddered and she looked up at me, trying to smile and failing. But I admired her tenacity. I was also beginning to understand, if not the nature, the gravity of her situation. A situation into which I was desperate to insert myself, it seemed.

"You're right. Help me grab all of this and we'll take it inside. It might not be as bad as it looks." I knew that she didn't believe that. She knew it, too. But right now, in this moment, this space, she needed to not be preparing for the worst, needed to make just this short journey from the car to the living room knowing that everything was fine because that was the only thing that was holding her together.

She pressed her palm to her chest for a moment and then swept her hand decisively from one side to the other, picking up half a dozen black bags and cases by their webbing and bringing them up out of the trunk. She was stronger than I'd given her credit for.

When we got back to the living area she arranged the bags she was carrying in front of the fire on some towels I had piled up for her and I added mine to the pile. There were about a dozen altogether and I moved to open the nearest one. I felt a small, hot hand on my arm and looked up.

"Not yet." Her voice brooked no opposition and I dropped my hand, waiting for her to speak.

"I don't exactly know what you want, Jasper, if you want to help and how much, if you just want to know, but I'm past the point of being able to not tell you. You asked what I was running from."

I nodded, sinking to the floor and tugging at her hand. Moments later she followed, crossing her legs and leaning her face in her hands.

"Have you heard of Smiljan?" I shook my head. "It was the birthplace of Nikola Tesla, inventor of the electromagnetic coil among other things. When our government approached him in 1893, they were aware of the brilliance of his work and offered him a large sum of money to run other projects alongside his own. Namely reverse engineering certain…found artefacts. They wanted a head start on the rest of the world and Nikola, genius that he was, gave it to them. For that, their bureau became known by the name of his hometown."

"Do they want you to…invent something for them?" I was confused at this point, very unsure of where this conversation was headed.

"Not quite." She leaned over and unzipped the side of one of the black cases. I saw the gleaming corner of a laptop. It wasn't one I had seen before; this was custom.

"I have a…knack…for getting in places I'm not supposed to. I haven't found a computer yet that I can't crack in under three minutes."

"You're a hacker?!" Of all the things I was expecting…this wasn't one of them. This wasn't even a distant relative to the ex-boyfriend of the dead dog of a slight acquaintance of one of them.

"I'm a _super_hacker. There is maybe only one other person on the planet who can do what I do and he is in a secure care facility in Bari, Italy for his severe autism. Believe me when I say that I am not well liked in the intelligence community."

"What did you do to piss them off?"

"What didn't I do?" She smiled then, the first genuine smile in about half an hour. "Most recently, though…I hacked into the FBI's mainframe and found a gateway to Smiljan's server. This server is so secret that it's kept on a nuclear submarine that constantly circles the globe, following routes unused by the military. This is not a military organisation, it's a scientific one. And they will stop at nothing to prevent civilians, the government and, especially, the military from getting wind of what they do."

"That doesn't make sense. Why would a branch of the FBI hide information from the military? Surely they're on the same side?" My worst case scenario had been CIA or druglords after her. This was pushing the envelope as far as my comprehension was concerned.

"They're not a branch of the FBI, their members simply take positions there as cover. But more important than that is their relation to the military and other agencies. When you watch a movie or read a book, when some discovery of true enormity is made, ruins, treasure, nuclear materials, WMD caches, whatever, what is the one thing that ALWAYS happens?" I caught on quickly, my vampire mind working a hundred possibilities at once, all of them resulting in one conclusion.

"The military takes over the situation and things get totally fucked." As a former military man this was hard to swallow and harder to say, but while _a soldier_ can behave intelligently and rationally, the military as a whole could be pigheaded, stupid and obstructive. In fact it seemed sometimes as if those were its primary objectives.

"Got it in one. This organisation has made discoveries over the last hundred and twenty years that would make your head spin. And it has _kept_ them. That is its primary goal, to keep what it deems significant finds. But more than that, they want to keep secret what they _do_ with those finds. They don't give a damn who really killed Kennedy and they certainly wouldn't give a shit if Elvis turned up hale and healthy and singing Blue Suede Shoes. They deal in big, they deal in dangerous as fuck, and they deal in kill the hell out of anyone who comes across their dirty little operation. Can you imagine what they would do to someone who came across records of everything they've done for the last twelve decades? Someone who had a vested interest in making it as public as possible as quickly as possible?" The river of panic within her broke through the dam she'd been shoring up and cascaded through the room like a tsunami.

"This is where you come in? That's why they're after you?" I grabbed her wrist, more for my own comfort than hers. For reasons I could not describe, the thought of her in this kind of danger made me feel physically ill.

"I downloaded ninety-eight percent of their server, including all of the files on their most recent acquisition." She took a breath and drew her shoulders back, looking me square in the eye. "They were not pleased. My father endured agony I can't even think about because he wouldn't tell them where I was. They took a week killing him."

"How have you managed to keep from getting caught this long?" Her entire body slumped in resignation and defeat.

"I haven't." she whispered, almost so low that I didn't catch it.

With a shaky breath she swivelled around and brought her lower back within reach of my hands. One finger pinched up the corner of her sweater, indicating that I should lift it the rest of the way. I did so slowly, holding my breath. As the knitted white fabric slid up over her hips and back I saw, just between her left sacral dimple and the indent of her spine, a rosy grey teardrop of what should be skin. My vampire eyes focused and refocused, trying to get a handle on it.

It was smooth, like glass made of velvet, matt and yet shiny. No capillaries ran beneath its surface, instead my enhanced vision made out hundreds of microscopic, parallel tunnels, shaped like miniature storm drains. Fluids I could not name raced helter skelter along these gullies and were policed at their intersections by jolts of green electricity, fired from cellular pistons no-one on this planet had ever studied. Something had been stitched into her, had replaced part of her, and now grew in tandem with her own sacred flesh, a blasphemous trespasser.

It was something not of this world.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to all of you who have reviewed so far, especially GuiltyButFlawless and CarminMoon, the two co-winners of the chapter four teaser. I'm so happy that you're all enjoying the story so far and hope that you stick with me as the story continues. A massive thank you to Mistress Whitlock for checking this chapter out and assuring me that it wasn't quite as shit as I thought. It's still not my favourite, but they both needed to do a little information sharing so the exciting stuff is kind of delayed until chapter five.**

**~Sin~**

**Supercharged**

**Chapter Four**

**JPov**

I couldn't move. I wanted to reach forward and touch the small piece of not-Bella but I couldn't make my arm obey. Now that it was uncovered my senses became aware of the strange scent and the low frequency vibrations that came from it. Indiscernible to anyone else, my vampire body could feel the hum from here. My nose was trying desperately to make sense of what it was experiencing, but the small, pinkish grey patch of 'skin' was the olfactory equivalent of a magic eye picture.

Bella swept a finger lightly across its surface, shuddering violently as she did so, and I could hear her stomach and throat muscles clench with a deeply felt gag reflex. I could see it indent slightly under the pressure, and a slight bluish flush swept across it from left to right so I knew that it was not metal. I don't think that I felt very reassured by that fact. I did, however, manage to reach out a finger tip and push it gently. The reaction was intense.

Obviously my frigid flesh was deemed strange by whatever senses or sensors it possessed, as hundreds of tiny thorns rose up all over it. They waved in uniform ripples that seemed to defy the laws of motion associated with living creatures as we knew them. They did not protrude from beneath the skin, but were made from it, its surface having been drawn up into points by some micromuscular reflex whose natural purpose resented my proximity. Their motion gave me the impression that they were looking for whatever had brushed against them, not trying to ward off another encounter. Having not been afraid of anything living or dead for the last hundred and fifty years, I found myself more than just a little reluctant to touch it a second time.

I could not help at this point wondering about the creature from which this living artefact originated. What shape were they and how would one look if their whole body reacted like this? I thought that they might look very frightening indeed and suppressed a shudder. Bella was not doing so well as I.

She turned to me, an ill concealed desperation in her eyes. Every nerve in her body seemed to be on the verge of synaptic implosion and her white face appeared to be stretched tight and very thin over the bones of her skull. Her grimace of despair drew her lips back from her teeth in fear and the air vibrating between us told me that she was only moments away from completely losing it.

"It's in me. It's deeper than it looks and I can feel it IN ME." Her shaking was so violent that, but for the fact that she could still speak, she appeared to be having a seizure.

There was only one emotion that could lick fear that strong, so I sent it to her. With every ounce of concentration I could muster, I poured into her a swift rush of blinding rage and watched it career through her body, every inch of her blushing as it was overtaken with anger. As the flush reached her face, twin spots of bright red temper lighting up her cheeks, Bella went nuclear.

"MotherFUCKER! What the fuck did they do to me?! Who the hell said they could stick this THING in my body?! And what in the name of Christ's ballsack did they do with the piece of me they took out? Huh?" She was panting and her grimace had been replaced with a snarl. The most impressive growl I'd ever heard a human make came hurtling out of her throat and she whipped around and pounded her fist into the solid, wooden mantelpiece that sat above the fireplace. She punched it again and made an unhappy noise of pain and frustration deep in the back of her throat.

Bella turned to me with eyes full of confusion and I could see the fear and anger fighting to dominate her. I closed the space between us with one step and did the only thing I could think of, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tightly against me as they both lost and she instead broke into shuddering sobs.

"Am I not even human now?" she asked, her voice muffled by my sweater and her own tears.

"Of _course_ you are." I realised that I was rocking us slightly as I held her, and that it seemed to be helping a little. "Whatever that is, it doesn't change anything that makes you, you. If anything, the fact that you've dealt with it as long as you have and aren't in a straitjacket somewhere makes me think that there's a whole lot more 'you' than most people can claim. I know you're feeling like hammered shit right now but, honey, I think you're the strongest person I've met. And fast becoming one of my favourites, at that."

She made a muffled mmph noise against my chest and squirmed her arms up to wrap around me. I hadn't realised until she did that that I had needed a hug every bit as much as she. I decided to be honest about my own perception of her.

"You know what? Holding you close like this, it's fucking hard. It's taking every ounce of self control I have to do it and you wanna know why?" She looked up at me with a frown. "It's because you smell so completely, utterly and delectably human. One hundred percent _human_. Honestly, I've never smelt anything so delicious, and I've been around a long time. So whatever you feel about your…modification, just understand that no part of it makes up any part of the rest of you." Her smile was small and it wobbled but it was there nonetheless. "So you dig down and find whatever it is that you've been using to deal with it this far, and you take that thing and you lock it in a box somewhere and you refuse to think about it. The only one who can let it in is you, and you're not going to, right?"

"Right." Her voice was firm and I could almost feel parts of her shutting down as she banished the dread and fear to some place they couldn't escape. "Thanks, Jasper. It's just…" She huffed in frustration. "It's just a little…real right now, you know what I mean? If I don't look in the mirror and don't touch I can almost forget it's there. I don't know if I'm as strong as you think, but refusing to acknowledge it seems to be the only way I can just hold my brain together."

"Look, it'd probably help to do something else for a while. Why don't we take a look at your stuff here and we'll see what's OK and what isn't?"

"Sounds like a plan. Although if you have any half decent whisky I could sure do with a shot first."

"That I can manage. Which I'm glad about because sure as hell, your computer stuff is going to confuse the crap out of me." I grinned and she mirrored my expression, some of her previous calm and good humour seeping back in again.

**BPov**

Jasper went to a large walnut cabinet that looked a good couple hundred years old and took out a bottle of beautiful amber liquid. He poured a couple fingers in a cut crystal glass and handed it to me. After a quick sniff I grinned at him and dismissed my previous plan of knocking it back. I was going to savour this.

"How about we get a little production line going?" I asked, sitting cross legged at the edge of my pile of luggage and taking a sip of the luscious, fiery whisky in my glass. "You open and I'll triage the contents?"

"Suits me." He sat gracefully and picked the smallest bag from the pile and took out a handful of wires and cables, along with a small transmitter and a collapsible sat dish. "Not even damp."

"Sling it in the good pile. Next."

Nine bags, four satellite phones, three modems, two cameras, a rollup, rubber keyboard, forty assorted discs, one HUD and a crapload of bugs and tracking devices later, we didn't yet have anything in the 'bad' pile. All that was left was the bag that held my laptop and I was, for want of a better expression, shitting myself.

Jasper opened the bag and took out the computer. He didn't need to say anything. The water running from every crevice said enough. I felt my lower lip tremble as tears pricked at my eyelids and my breathing stopped. I watched as Jasper propped it open on top of some of the towels to drain some of the water away from it.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I was hoping it wasn't going to be this bad. Exactly how essential is this piece of equipment? What can't you do without it?" I gulped.

**JPov**

"Everything else is just junk without it. This is a one of a kind computer and it's all that's standing between me and them. So far I've been able to see where they've tracked me to and how close they are. Without that" She tapped the edge of the laptop "they could be standing at your front door and I wouldn't have a clue."

"How long have they been tracking you?" I didn't know if this would be another topic that would set off a panic attack but I needed to know what we were up against. I don't know when I reached the conclusion that this woman was not going anywhere by herself, but if she thought that she was going to disappear off into the night without me there to look out for her she had another thing coming. I felt bound to her by something I didn't understand and could not fight. Dread pooled in my stomach at the thought of what could happen to her if I wasn't with her. I had to suppress a growl at the thought of these people getting their hands on her again.

"Eleven months in total, since I hacked their server, but it's been four months now since I got away from their facility in North Carolina. There's some kind of compound built into the mountains there and they had me underground for what I think was a few weeks. The only reason I still have all of this stuff is because I hid it in the house of the vampires I knew back home. One of them came to get me when I escaped." She seemed reluctant to part with this information and although I was, internally, leaping up and down in curiosity, I wouldn't push the subject further than she would comfortably allow.

"Were you friends with them?" The flash of pain and stubbornness indicated that this was a road down which she did not want to go yet.

"Not exactly. There was a group of them and I got on really well with two of them, but another one of them tried to kill me every time he saw me. La tua cantaloupe or whatever the hell it is." I chuckled. "Seriously, it started to get boring after a while. But it did put them in the position where they kinda owed me. A lot. So really, the least they could do was get me out of the shit temporarily and put me up for a couple weeks while I healed." She shook her head at my expression. "I know you're curious, but I can't talk about them without thinking a whole lot about my hometown and therefore my father so, if it's OK with you, I'm just gonna skirt that particular part of my life for now, OK?" I nodded.

"Is your laptop even remotely salvageable? That should be the priority right now, anyway." Changing the subject seemed the best way to alleviate the sense of oppression that was now rolling from her like a fog bank.

"I don't know. It won't have had time to rust anywhere, but until it's all dried out I won't know how bad it is."

"Will it be OK here by the fire?" I knew that too much heat would damage it, but it made sense to me that a little might help the water inside to evaporate.

"Yeah, but it won't do a good enough job by itself. Your kitchen seems to be well stocked. Do you have any rice? I'd need a lot."

"I do, but what good will that do?" I frowned and tried to figure out where she was going with this. Even with all that had happened, I didn't miss the fact that she looked helluva sexy when she was exasperated with me.

"It absorbs moisture. You'll often find a few grains of rice in salt shakers in restaurants because it stops the salt clumping together. The best thing I can do is take off any removable panels, take out any non-attached parts and stick it and them in a box with a few kilos of rice overnight. It should draw every drop of moisture out of the computer and then I'll be able to run some diagnostics on it.

"I'll get the rice. You start stripping it down and take the worst of the water off it." I directed, jumping to my feet and hurrying toward the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, the laptop and its removable accoutrements were snug and drying in a box full of rice in front of the fire. The weirdest thing was, even given everything that had happened in the last thirty-six hours, burying a computer in rice was the weirdest part of the experience thus far. Bella seemed to be in agreement as she was gazing at the box with a frown and feeling the tiniest bit disturbed.

"Are you worried?" I asked, putting all of her other equipment back in its respective bags and cases.

"Not really. I mean yes, hugely; how could I not be? But not so much about the laptop now. I know what can and can't be done with damaged hardware and my own limitations are negligible, in this area anyway. Whatever state the machine is in, I'll not have lost the data on the hard drive. I might just need to find some spare parts at some point."

"Well, darlin', considering all the ups and downs of today, might I suggest that now would be a good time to get some sleep?"

"I don't think you're far off base with that one. I'm going to need my brain fully mustered to sort this crap out tomorrow. Just…before I go to bed…I need to know how OK you are with my staying here. You mentioned wanting me to hang around, but that was before you found out about a few significant issues. We've known each other less than two days; it doesn't make good sense to me that you'd want to get mixed up in this."

"Truth be told, I feel utterly uncomfortable with the thought of you being anywhere but here, with me. I probably don't have a total grasp of the situation yet, but I have a damn good idea and believe me when I say that I can't think of a safer place for you to be. I don't want you to think that I mean to infringe on your freedom or independence, but you'll not be going very far without me by your side until this is over." I took one of her hands in mine, feeling an entirely different kind of vibration to the earlier one. She squeezed my hand in thanks.

"What if it's never over, Jazz?" Some base, male part of me rejoiced at the nickname, voiced softly in her husky tones. "What if they never stop? What if we're running for the rest of my life? There has to be a point at which I make the decision not to put you in danger any more. And before you say 'duh, vampire!', trust me when I say that these people would think you were all their fucking Christmases come at once."

"That's as maybe, but you and I both know they'd never catch me. I intend to ensure that the same applies to you." I rubbed my thumb across hers. "Just know that I'm doing this because I want to, not because I'm bored or obligated or feel sorry for you. Yes, it pains me that they did this to you, but I don't pity you. There's something about you that doesn't invite it. I'm no angel, and I'll not lie to you and myself and say that I don't find you a very beautiful woman, Bella. But I'll stick to your side through this because I cannot bear the thought of not doing so, not because I expect anything from you. I don't know that I'm fit to be more than a friend, anyway, but I would at the very least like your friendship." She smiled at that, a little spark of happiness and attraction bursting from her.

"You have it. And I thank you, for this, for breakfast, even for ramming me off the road. I have a feeling that I'd be in a much worse situation had you not done that. I wish I could tell you how relieved I am that you want to help me, and how welcome a friend would be. I've been running out of options other than staying ahead of them and having no-one but myself to use as a resource, as an escape, as company, it's very lonely." I got the feeling that I didn't need to give voice to the fact that I understood that only too well.

"As for anything more than that, I'll admit there's a spark, Jasper, and a powerful one at that. But I've built impenetrable walls around my heart for the last few years and I've done so for a reason. I don't know if I have anything to offer you, but I won't shut my mind to the idea. That's as fair as I can be, right now." She looked into my eyes, searching for my acceptance.

"I'd not ask for more. Now let's get you to bed. I might not need to sleep but you sure as hell do." I winked at her and she grinned, following my lead as I led her to the stairs and up to the guest room.

It took her very little time to fall asleep and, sitting downstairs watching flames lick gently at the logs in the hearth, I revelled in the emotions that flowed from her as she slept. The fear, attitude and defensiveness disappeared, as did the worry. What swirled around the house while she dreamed was childlike, innocent and joyous. With everything that she had been through, I had expected her rest to be fitful and chased by nightmares. Instead, she shrugged it off and lay in peace and contentment, two things that had been markedly absent from this house for some time. I felt my admiration for her swell. Even in an unconscious state she was still the strongest person I had ever met.

I had been lying on the sofa for several hours when I felt my phone vibrate in my pockets. I looked at the screen.

Shit. This could not be good.

"What the fuck do you want, Alice?"

Only seconds later I was running up the stairs at vampire speed and opening the door to the guest bedroom, unconcerned about Bella's state of dress or sleeping habits. Thankfully all I could see was a small lump beneath a quilt and several blankets. I approached and was taken aback by the absolute innocence of her sleeping face. Her eyelids were closed softly and the tiny, ever present crease between her brows had gone. She looked utterly peaceful and I felt like a world class cocksucker for having to wake her up. Unfortunately, there was very little I could do about it. I shook her shoulder gently.

"Bella? Bella, honey, wake up."

She moaned a little and batted at my hand. She must have knocked a knuckle pretty hard because her eyes shot open. For two horrible seconds, a wave of fear shot through her that crippled me. My knees went one way and I went the other.

"Bella, it's me, it's Jasper!" I managed to croak from my prone position on the floor.

A small, worried face peeked over the edge of the bed, looking horrified.

"Jesus, Jasper! What the hell are you doing? It's only four in the morning for god's sake!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" I raised myself up on my elbows, then hopped onto my feet and crouched next to the bed so my face was level with hers. I stroked her cheek gently and smoothed her hair back.

"I don't want you to panic, darlin', but I just had a heads up from…a friend and we need to get outta here."

"What? Why? And…now?" she wasn't completely awake but was desperately trying to get there.

"I think the bastards that are after you are going to be here soon. We have to leave and we have to leave now."

I felt a wave of panic, terror and dread pour out of her, but then every single emotion coming from Bella stopped in one instant. I didn't know if this was a good sign or not.

"How soon and how long do we have to get our shit together?" Ah, good sign. So this was the Bella who'd managed to piss off every intelligence agency in the Western hemisphere, and a few in the East, too, if my assumptions were correct. I'd been waiting to meet her. I'd had a feeling she'd be a kickass bitch. Looking into her eyes, now coal black with cold calculation as well as from the dark, I realised that maybe I'd have someone to take care of me, too.

"They've been checking out the nearby town and they found where your car went into the ditch. They'll be here within about the next three hours. I figure we have twenty minutes max to get our shit together and get on the road." She nodded decisively. "Get dressed; I'm going to get everything together and I can do it faster than you can. Is there anything you need other than your own gear and whatever food and drink I can pack into my jeep?"

"Grab any computers you have. I might need to cannibalise them to fix mine. Toilet paper in case that isn't an obvious one."

"Anything else?" I turned away, averting my eyes as she hopped out of bed and stripped off her pyjamas in favour of jeans, t-shirt and sweater.

"Money. A whole fuckton of money." I nodded, that I could do.

"And, Jasper?" I looked over my shoulder as I hurried out the door, just in time to see her expertly checking a pistol she'd pulled, rabbitlike, out of her duffel bag.

"Guns. If you have any, we're going to need some fucking guns."


	5. Chapter 5

**Another massive thank you to all of you who have taken the time to review the story so far. I was stunned by the response to the last chapter and hope that you're all still enjoying the story. I know I am! As we get into this chapter, I'll just remind any of my readers who may be underage that this is rated M and for good reason. NatalieLynn won the chapter five preview; I loved that fact that she was enjoying the story so much that she felt she needed Coke and popcorn. I hope this chapter is equally snackworthy. Yet again, I'm posting at two in the morning and very tired so if (or should that be 'when'?) you find any mistakes or discrepancies, please let me know straight away; I **_**will**_** want to fix them.**

**Thank you as always to Mistress Whitlock for keeping me sane (ish) and helping me find my motivation when I got stuck. She has another new chapter of Making Us up so if you haven't made your way over there yet, get on it! Thanks also to GuiltyButFlawless and CarminMoon, my sexy review goddesses, for their enthusiasm and support of the story; you have no idea how good a job you're doing of keeping the chapters coming.**

**~Sin~**

**Supercharged**

**Chapter Five**

**JPov**

She was looking at me as if my brains had taken a complete vacation.

"A musket? Are you serious?" Her jaw was occupying a location approximately one inch farther South that was usual.

"And a crossbow. They both work perfectly, I assure you."

"I don't think I understood the meaning of the word ambivalent until now. I'm simultaneously disappointed and excited. Something a little more...automatic would have been welcome but still…musket!" She raised her arms in the air and hopped animatedly from one foot to the other.

"We can dance later." I threw a toilet roll at her head. "We're supposed to be panicking here, remember?"

"Fuck 'em." Her offhand brevity summed up my own feelings about the agency that was currently bearing down on us.

"I couldn't agree more, but we still need to hurry."

"I've got everything; you set?" She tucked the pistol down the back of her jeans and I had to battle some extreme happiness in the trouser area. Private Whitlock and I were both in agreement over the fact that there wasn't anything much finer than a woman with a gun in her pants.

"All set. I made you a sandwich which you can eat in the jeep. Everything else is in there already." I slung the musket over my shoulder and affected a slight swagger

"Let's hit the road, cowboy." She smirked as if she knew exactly what the name 'cowboy' did to both myself and my subordinate, making her way down the stairs with a swagger of her own.

We made our way past the utility room and into the dark garage. As the lights flickered on I felt a spike of lust from Bella and looked over at her, one eyebrow raised. One side of her mouth curled upward.

"Humina humina." She murmured breathlessly at the sight of my jeep. I had to admit, she had taste; this bad boy was a big, black monster and despite its size could outrun almost anything. It didn't corner as well as a sports car but wasn't far off.

"This is what I call a getaway with style." She grinned, opening the passenger door and swinging herself up into the soft leather seat.

"I insist on the best when I'm running from a shady government agency. Besides, the tinted windows mean that not only can I drive in daylight but that we can see them before they see us."

"Good thinking, Batman." She jiggled in her seat, huffing as she tried to find a comfortable way of arranging her legs.

"Did you eat any of those sugar packets?"

"Nope. Just hyper. Which is better than catatonic. Hurry up, slowcoach, we're in horrible scary danger." I laughed at the silly face she pulled and made my way round to the driver's side.

It was still pitch black outside as we pulled slowly out of the garage and rolled down the driveway. I inched my window down a fraction so that I could hear over an even farther distance. I should be able to hear anything within a few miles of us for the next few hours while the roads stayed relatively traffic free. Once the sun, and ergo the rest of the county, arose our margin of error would be slightly diminished.

Instead of continuing to the road, I turned onto a dirt track halfway there and drove without lights to the edge of the forest that skirted the base of the mountains. The fronds of the whispering trees brushed against the roof of my jeep as I inched us into their dense cover. When I couldn't see anything but tree trunks, I turned to Bella.

"I know that being left alone might not be your greatest desire right now, but I'm going to run back to the house and see if these guys show up."

"But…"

"I need to get an idea of how organised they are, what kind of skills they have and in what numbers they're pursuing you. I'm not looking to break any necks; I just need to know what we're up against." I took her hand in mine, smiling at her little gasp. I'd forgotten that while I could see her perfectly, she was not so blessed and the touch had startled her.

"Are you sure it's necessary? How will you be able to tell how well trained they are?" I suppressed a grim chuckle at that one.

"Darlin', for over a hundred years I was the general of one of the largest vampire armies the world has ever seen. I don't particularly want to tell you about that yet, and especially not sitting in the dark, but trust me when I say that I've forgotten more about soldiering than most of the modern military knows today."

"Christ on a stick." She sounded a little awed and her emotions mirrored this assessment. "I really couldn't have been ploughed off the road by anyone more perfect could I?" I felt her embarrassment spike as she realised what she'd said. "I mean perfect for..I mean I don't think you're perfect…well you are but…damnit you know what I mean!" Amusement overshadowed the embarrassment by the end of her sentence and I had to laugh with her.

"It's OK; I know exactly what you mean and am in complete agreement. If I were going to choose someone to protect you I would choose myself. And I don't say that in arrogance. I have more than my fair share of imperfections, but this is a job I'm designed for."

"In that case, go check it out. I'll be OK here. Gun, remember?" She grinned cheekily, looking somewhere over my left shoulder. I shook my head and chuckled again. Circumstances aside, humans were funny.

I eased the door open slowly, whispered my goodbye and, listening intently for a moment, took off as fast as I could back in the direction of the house. There was no moon and I was thankful for that; however fast I ran, my dead white skin would not go unnoticed. I was about one mile from the house when I first heard stealthy footfall on the fields leading up to my property. I heard eight different individuals and, judging from the placement of their footsteps, they had enough training to get them close to any human target without detection. I leapt into the branches of a large oak tree that sat around half a kilometre from my front door and listened. Although being deliberately quiet, they were faster than I had anticipated and the first black ski mask appeared above a rise in the ground after a few minutes. I saw a glove covered hand motion to unseen companions behind him and he moved forwards.

The first fucktard – I am a fan of metonymy and see no reason why I should not refer to them by something more appropriate to their nature; I also see no particular reason to take them seriously – stopped around two hundred feet from the house and waited for the others to catch up with him. He was the shortest of the bunch, though obviously the leader, and built like a barrel, squat and carrying a great deal of muscle mass. The next three who flanked him were rather unmemorable in their size and shape, although one held a fascinating looking tool in one hand, with a screen and several buttons on it. The screen illuminated a view which was the same shape as a natal ultrasound and I guessed that it was most likely an infra red monitor of some kind.

His whispered report to the group's commander confirmed this.

"There's nothing bigger than a rabbit within half a mile of this place. The only remaining heat signature inside the property looks like a log fire. It's still burning so whoever was here left less than eight hours ago. There are no residual heat signatures around light switches, light bulbs, beds or doorknobs so unless whoever lived here could function perfectly well in the dark I doubt they left less than two hours ago."

I smirked and adjusted my position to see several more black clothed figures approach. How wrong could he have been? Every light had been extinguished when Bella went to bed; I'd been intent on enjoying the glow from the fire while it lasted. Living without limit and going without nothing your heart desires leaves the simplest and most innocent pursuits the most pleasurable of all. For a moment I felt a surge of victory as I thought that no clue to Bella's presence remained in the house. Then I remembered the sweater that had been ruined in the crash and which was sitting in the trash can in the bathroom. Shit. Could I make it inside the house quickly enough to find and dispose of it before they reached the first floor of the house? I would have to try.

I plummeted silently from my perch and, as soon as all of the intruders were looking in the opposite direction, I made a dash for the side of the house where I would be able to sneak in a side window. I was fast, but not quite fast enough.

"Hey!" I listened intently, all the while edging the window open. "I just saw something move across the screen."

"Was it a person?" That had to be the voice of the leader. It was mean and low, with a nasal burr that would have been treated in childhood but never completely eradicated.

"No way; it was colder than the fucking snow. It was large and moved West to East at approximately a hundred and thirty miles per hour."

"Nothing moves that fast. Wind would show up as cold, right? And there are some freezing gusts coming off those mountain ridges."

"You don't think maybe it was her? She could have one of those Stilsuits, keeps you warm inside but reflects the environment's temperature."

"Even if she did, there's no way she could move that fast. Is there?" Cockparty Numero Uno asked this matter-of-factly. Just how much fucked up shit have these guys seen, that they would even consider it a possibility?

"All the other recipients gained varying degrees of strength, speed and agility. It's possible but at this point I'm going to go with cold wind. Stay alert, though; we deal in the impossible and I don't want you lot fucking this up. That girl is worth more to us dead than alive so don't put yourselves in any unnecessary danger. Spread out; we'll take two sides of the house and enter at ground level."

They moved silently toward and around the house. I could some of them approaching my position and tucked myself into a high alcove to observe undetected. If it were possible, my heart would have been thumping like a war drum and my temperature would have fallen even further when I heard the leader's words. Worth more dead than alive. Setting foot on my property was bad enough, placing no value on the life of someone I held dear was a fuckup of mammoth proportions.

"If we find her" The whisperer was one of a pair so matched in every physical aspect, even to their scent, that I decided they had to be twins. "I get first dibs on her. Even if she is part freak now she's still human between her legs."

"Since when do we not share everything?" the other responded with a tone that suggested no human soul had ever inhabited his useless carcass. "We both get first dibs on her. Let's see how hard that little bitch can wriggle when she's stuck in the middle of a cock sandwich."

Bigger fuckup.

_I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you a very fucking lot_. I felt my lips skin back from my teeth as my throat began to burn in earnest and venom pooled behind my tongue. I was no longer observing but hunting and would be only too happy to help them understand the depth of their mistake.

I followed the twins as they made their way up the staircase to the first floor. They had isolated themselves and I had every intention of using it to my advantage. They were large for humans, maybe six foot eight, and built like Vikings. I was willing to bet that blue eyes, fair hair and pale skin that freckled easily hid under their ski masks. Not that sun damage was ever going to be a problem for them again. I slipped from doorway to doorway as I followed them, careful to make no whisper against the floor or walls that would alert them to their impending demise. I felt a slight stab of disappointment. I would have liked to have made this messy but that would alert the other members of the team who were still making a sweep of the ground floor.

Never mind. I couldn't make it messy, but I could make it hurt. I could make it hurt a lot.

I saw my chance as they both, as if guided by a sixth sense that they as humans should in no way possess, entered the guestroom. One bent over the bed and the other walked straight to the bathroom. They might have been filth, but they were well trained and knew what they were looking for. My breath caught as Bella's wrecked sweater flew through the air and landed on the bed. They made no sound but I could feel the slithering satisfaction that wormed through both of them.

I had only one chance now, before one of them radioed downstairs to report their find. I now wallowed in a side of myself that had not seen the light for more than fifty years. And, for the first time in much longer even than that, I took pleasure in it.

I had been called many names during my years in Maria's army and had earned every one of them a hundred, a thousand times over. To the rest of the world I was known as Sangredios, the bloodgod. I had no doubt that even in the halls of the Volturi I was known by the title to which the Mayans of Central America still made sacrifice. However, my favourite had always been the bastardisation of the Spanish verb _ganar_, meaning to win or gain, which I felt described me far more aptly. I never lost.

I had led four hundred and eleven campaigns for Maria and had been victorious by enormous margins on every one. Anything that I set my mind to do or have was mine without question. My fame did not remain solely within the vampire world; I was celebrated by humans and vampires alike throughout Texas and Mexico. This improved my living conditions considerably, and the quality of the distractions I was afforded by my mistress. Every two weeks a procession of ignorant humans would bring a new girl to drape herself with flowers and dance before the Gunlord.

Back in the present, I prepared to win again.

As the twins turned toward the door, I stepped through it at inhuman speed and stood before them. I wished at that moment I could see how I looked through their night vision goggles. Then I smelled the stench of urine as one released a few drops in fright. I spoke, low and clear, wanting them to hear every word but not to be overheard by their comrades.

"Gentlemen. My name is Jasper and I'll be your host this evening. There's only one special on tonight's menu but I think you can guess what it is."

My hands shot out and grasped each of them by the throat. I exerted a small amount of pressure and lifted them both off of the floor, turning them so that they faced each other slightly. I took a small amount of pride in the fact that I had thought to give them mirror endings, twins as they were. They had entered the world together and would leave in the same manner.

The one in my left hand kicked violently for a second, the last remnants of the air from his now starving lungs whooshing from his nose with a slight hiss. The one in my right simply stared at me in horror. Men of their size rarely had anything to fear and I was willing to bet that it was a new emotion for them. Both were finding it difficult to process, but while the one on the left fought with what little strength my grip allowed him, the one on the right was drowning in terror and moved not one muscle. He was likely the more imaginative of the two and that was not something that was advantageous in a situation such as this. I did feel smug, however, knowing that whatever frenzied theories his brain was sifting through at high speed was not going to hit on the truth.

I debated whether or not to talk to them and drag it out a little or give them a quick release. I decided on the former; if I wasn't going to have the pleasure of hearing them scream, I wanted at least to make their emotions skyrocket. I would not feed on the blood that hammered through their veins, carrying the exquisite adrenaline and endorphins their bodies mistakenly thought would aid them. On the other hand, I had no qualms about feeding on the fear and pain and shock that burst from them like fireworks. _I am doubly a vampire and they will know it before they die_.

"I'll lay odds that you two have seen some very strange things in your time." Although the difference in temperature of their flesh above and below my hands hinted at imminent asphyxiation, I knew that they could still hear me perfectly.

"You work for Smiljan, I know that much. And, after defiling an innocent woman in the worst way imaginable, you are now looking to clear up your mess." I felt the truth of that statement wash through them both.

"You could not have known what waited for you here. If it were not for the sick desires you harboured regarding Bella I might feel sorry for you." I could hear how flat and emotionless my voice sounded and I revelled in the effect it was having on the two men.

"You have not come across my kind before. If you had, suspicions would have been raised when your tracker saw me pass in front of his infra-red monitor earlier." I moved my hands closer together as I spoke, bringing the brothers' heads within inches of each other. Underneath the fear, the excruciating pain, I could feel that characteristic that must have made them so very good at their jobs. Until now. Although neither could speak, there was a raging curiosity that overwhelmed even the sense of their own deaths, which were fast approaching. I decided that it would be more entertaining to answer the unspoken question than not.

"Vampire."

That one word sent such immense terror spiralling through both bodies that had I not been prepared for it, it would have brought me to my knees. With morose detachment I noted that when the twins felt the same emotion, they felt it in exactly the same way. It was like holding two halves of a whole and for a split second, the humanity I had fought for made a brief and ineffectual struggle for dominance. Even the Gunlord was horrified at the thought of killing brothers, but my reasoning was simple, and without room for negotiation or mercy. They could not be permitted to live.

"Goodnight, gentlemen. I shall enjoy this as much as I shall regret it." I squeezed minutely and felt their throat muscles constricting under my fingers. More pressure and I could hear tiny stress fractures winding through each hyoid bone. Both were kicking their feet frantically now, their hands clawing at my arms, damaging only themselves in the process. My fingernails were piercing the backs of their necks and I couldn't tell what excited me more, the scent of the panicked iron seeping from beneath the skin or the warm wetness of it against and under and through my fingertips. My iron control was slipping and I would have to bring this little charade to an abrupt end.

With one last squeeze, I heard the clear snap of several cervical vertebrae and the emotions coming from them simply stopped. Their bodies tried vainly for a few more moments to retain the spark that had animated them. Both hearts sped up, slowed, sped up again to a frantic pace, then seemed to hit an invisible barrier as they both stopped with a wet thud.

I'm not sure if I'll ever know whether it was my humanity or my monster that made me arrange them like that. I laid them both down on the large bed, arms around each other as they must once have lain in life, as boys. I do know that the dangerous part of me was still running the show. I also had a clear and shining awareness that I was only just getting started. Two down, six to go.

I made my way down the stairs with the blood of Vikings on my hands and the thrill of the hunt searing my throat. I wanted more blood. I wanted a lot more.


	6. Chapter 6

**Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I love that you're enjoying the story and take the time to tell me so. Thanks to Jennifer for her wonderful review; I'm thrilled that you enjoy the story so much and am glad to have another long term reader. It was close but Mistress Whitlock was the winner of the chapter 6 preview with my favourite review of chapter 5. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well.**

**As always, I'd love to know what you think of the story so far.**

**~Sin~**

**Supercharged**

**Chapter Six**

**JPov**

From my vantage point at the bottom of the stairs I could see a dark shape scuffling around the fireplace, outlined in the dull orange glow from the dying embers. I could hear the movements of the others; they had spread out and were conducting a meticulous search of the rest of the ground floor. I had plenty of time in which to dispatch my third victim. I crossed the room quickly enough to create a small draft, which did not register with my quarry, and stood flush against the side of a large bookcase. I felt suddenly…playful.

The fucktard by the fire had pulled off his gloves and was brushing his flattened palms back and forth across the rug that lay in front of the hearth, no doubt looking to find any small artefacts which might be missed by the naked eye. His head was bent low to the floor in concentration and he hissed lightly under his breath as he worked, his fingers nimbly picking over the deep pile of the carpet. One hand found something and brought it up into his line of sight while the other continued its sweeping motion. It was a single grain of rice.

I chose that moment to blow a concentrated gust of icy air across the space between us and against the side of his face and neck, pulling my head back the second it had left my mouth. I peered around the corner of the bookcase and noted that his whole body had tensed and was poised for either running away or combat. He remained motionless, his head tilting fractionally as his ears strained to hear any sounds around him. The fire chose that moment to let out a large CRACK as its scorching fingers found a small pocket of air in one of the logs. He started and let out a small croak of fear as he fell back on his haunches, unbalanced by his own reaction.

Huffing and shaking his head in disgust, he righted himself searched for the piece of rice he had dropped. His fingers must have encountered a point at which Bella had spilled some, because when he brought his hand back up to his face this time, he was holding about a dozen grains. I sent him a little unease, chasing it with the indescribable feeling of being watched. He tensed again, looking imperceptibly left and right. I had no doubt that every single hair on his body was now standing fearfully erect as his skin horripilated in response to my conjuring. My mouth twisted into a grim smile and I sent another wave, a little stronger, followed by a diluted ripple of fear.

He straightened up slowly. Even from a vampire's point of view, I could appreciate the grace with which he stood. Not many humans are so at home in their own muscular-skeletal matrix that they can move with such fluidity. I chalked another point up to the training these guys must have had.

At his full height, the man in front of me was only around five foot eleven. He was built like a dancer, and yet any dancer would be envious of the self possession and poise with which he was suffused. I had never seen a soldier move like this, and speculated that his origins were not military. As he turned his head away from me I pelted him with random drops of fear, then brought up the rear with a bout of disgust so strong that he gagged, a small shudder running from the small of his back to his shoulders. It was fascinating to watch.

He was thoroughly confused now but, unlike the first emotions I had sent him, he could not shake off the fear this time. I could feel it pool in the pit of his stomach and send out icy tendrils to strangle his other organs. He backed up a little as I sent a continuous bevy of emotions into him, like waves hitting a beach: fear, disgust; creeping panic; fear, dread; growing desperation; fear, anxiety; fear, horror, FEAR.

He farted in fright and his heartbeat drowned the room.

One after another I added new waves of horror, building an invisible emotional scaffold inside him through which I would propel the pièce de résistance. I could feel a gleeful growl building inside my chest as he slunk backwards, intent on putting a wall behind his back. He stumbled and cracked his head a little but was soon completely flattened against the wall and looking around him while exerting a considerable force to keep his breathing as even and inaudible as possible. Considering who was listening, it did him little good.

The emotions I was sending him were a constant barrage now, each a little stronger than the last. Having spent the last hundred and fifty years killing, I knew all too well what death feels like from the receiving end. As he looked around him helplessly I allowed him to experience the feeling of falling, grinning as he gripped onto the wall behind him. Then, with pressure and disorientation I caused his eyesight to fail and shrink to pinpoints while the adrenaline shooting through his body made his heart beat like a jackhammer.

His hands were grabbing frantically at his face now, clawing off the goggles and mask, his terror forming his mouth into a soundless scream. I could see that he was a man of around forty, clean shaven and lean of jaw. His ruddy hair was beginning to sweep back from a widow's peak and a small hair sprouted from a mole just beneath his nose. He had no doubt been perfectly confident in his dealings with the world until now. In this moment, the grim reaper raising the stakes with a winning hand, he had regained the gestures of childhood and hugged himself tightly.

No-one would be coming for him.

With supreme concentration I shored up the framework of fear I had built inside him and braced myself. Grinding my own fingertips into the solid, mahogany bookcase I poured every ounce of terror, isolation, pain and finality into him that I could draw from my fifteen decades of death. I created a lethal singularity within him, coaxing its explosive nature and fanning it into a full blown supernova. Finally, I shocked his system with a volatile and dangerous numbness, guiding it as it crept through nerve endings and limbs. His whimpers grew for a moment and then gave way to a long, slow exhalation. The final, tidal breath.

Utterly convinced, his heart cooperated, and stopped.

His body remained upright for a moment, tendons and muscles still braced against the gravity that urged them to fold. Then, one by one, their resistance waned and he fell. His legs bowed under his own weight and I heard the whispering rush of liquid as his bladder voided itself under the pressure of his internal organs. There was a meaty thud and what once was a man lay slack and waxy on the floor. Under normal circumstances, whatever passed as his family might have mourned him. Here, now, there was only the vampire that ended him and a handful of teammates who would soon join him. Today was not a good day to die.

A muffled burst on his comm. link told me that he would soon be missed. Time to meet his friends.

The dark kitchen offered a number of weapons as I made my through it to the conservatory, but I took none. Although in the daytime the plants with which I had lined the expansive conservatory windows were abundant with life, now they were a dead jungle, absorbing the starlight and reflecting my passing with the whispering of their leaves. At one end knelt another man with mask and goggles, a teammate standing beside him, making a visual sweep of the property beyond the window. Despite its innocuous appearance, the room we occupied held numerous things with which I might bring about the demise of the two men who had yet to notice me. I decided to watch for a little while; I was having too much fun not to savour the preceding moments.

One turned to the other, his hand raised.

"I have a positive ID." His tone made it clear that he was talking not only to the man present but to the others on the radio band. He was holding up one long, silken strand of Bella's hair.

"Leave it." came the garbled voice of the group's leader over the comm. link. "Meet us in the garage immediately. Eye in the sky has a fix on us and you need to see something."

"Roger. Be right with you."

"Stay alert. We might not be the only ones in the house."

_Shit._

"What the fuck?" the man stood upright and swung his weapon around. My vampire speed allowed me to retreat to the living room before he could discover my presence.

I heard them mutter for a moment before both men appeared in the kitchen doorway, cautiously surveying the room. I shrank back, my plans changed. As much as the ever increasing buzz of the hunt made killing them an attractive option, I would learn more by following them to the rest of the team.

Each one skirted one side of the room as they moved as quickly as they dared to and past the stairs. I followed at a distance, able to smell their unease as well as feel it. As they slipped into the garage I hopped up into the rafters of the old building, able to see all five men as they clustered around one with a small, handheld display screen. I listened intently while keeping the screen within my sights.

"Bird Two made a sweep by ten minutes ago and found a small heat signature about a mile into the woods south of the property. Judging from the environmental signatures, what we have here is a parked car with a body inside."

"Is it our girl?" I had to suppress a growl at that point.

"I'm going to make a leap and say yes. That's not the most interesting part, though." His finger marked an internal plan of some kind.

"This is the footage of our sweep of the house. See here, where Ari and Eirik made an ascent to the first floor. Their signatures have been stationary and cooling since shortly after we gained access to the house. You can see Riley in the living area, here. He's making a manual search on one side of the room, and then he stands up and stays like that for a couple minutes, during which his temperature kicks up a notch. The whole time, this pale patch was in the room with him. It's below room temperature and doesn't seem to be significant until after Riley collapses. He doesn't move again, but this cold signature does."

His finger traces across the screen as they watch, unknowing, my progress across the room and to the kitchen.

"It ends up in the room with Finn and Stewart there."

They replayed the footage a couple of times.

"Sir," piped up one deep voice. "I don't like this. There was someone in the house with us. I think we need to find out who."

"I agree. You two." The leader jerked a thumb at the men who stood to his left. "Take a wide route down to that body in the woods. If it's her, bring her back. We'll stay here and neutralise whoever is messing up our objective."

I bit down on my own fist to stop myself from following the two men who eased out through the garage doors. Instead I sent a quick text message to the car's onscreen display.

_Bella, there are two on their way to you. Stay inside the jeep; they won't be able to get in. I will be there in under five minutes._

I pressed send and turned my attention back to the men below me. The leader and what seemed to be his second in command stood either side of the comms guy, watching as he dialled back into the satellite feed.

"Can you bring up the schematic view again? Live this time."

He did so and soon we were all looking at their three blips of heat in the cold space of the garage. My muscles were tensed to spring and a blanket of calm drifted around me as my senses shrank to encompass only the three men.

"Can you zoom out? I want to see if that extra body is still hanging around."

_Oh you have no idea._

"What the hell?" The picture grew smaller, including within the frame the small, blue-white clue to my presence. "Fuck!" The men spun and separated as I dropped noiselessly between them.

The three heartbeats soared and overwhelmed my senses. With a swipe of my arms I tore their weapons out of their hands, causing them to spin away from me, blindly searching for what had disarmed them. Stepping between two of them, one to the other, faster than their vision could comprehend, I threw both against opposite walls. They hit with sickening cracks and did not move again.

The leader was frozen in his tracks. I could hear him trying to slow his heart by controlling his breathing. With hands outstretched, he swung his head around and lunged for the door. I allowed him to make it a few feet before following him outside.

It was so tempting to stop for just a minute longer to take him out as well. But two of them were on their way to Bella's hiding place deep in the woods. I gave him a wide berth as he picked his way along a fence to the edge of the tree line. I entered the forest well ahead of him, and pushed the smalls sounds he made to the back of my mind as I searched with all my senses for the two ahead of me. They were about halfway to where Bella sat in the Jeep. I began to run, keeping a good distance between them and me as I raced to get to her before they did.

As I approached the jeep I could feel Bella strongly. She was afraid but determined and the body of the vehicle served to amplify the solid, sturdy beating of her heart. A newer, warmer sense of peace flashed through me at that sound. I'd not realised the effect her presence had on me until I was within easy reach of her again. There was a sense of relief in hearing her so close again that I had not expected. I liked it a lot.

I unlocked the driver's door quietly and eased it open, poking my head into the warm air that smelled entirely of Bella.

"Are you OK?" She was a pale blob against the car's dark interior but I could just make out her eyes. They were relatively calm, considering.

"I am now. I've been freaking myself out a little."

"They're almost here. Stay put while I take care of them. There'll be another along in a minute so keep the doors locked."

"OK." I saw the vague shape of her head nod, at odds with the small eddy of subterfuge that stirred beneath her words. I pushed it aside and closed the door again, relocking it and moving quickly to sit in the lower branches of one of the giants of the forest. I could hear the two men approaching, their footsteps only moments from discovery.

At that moment I heard the swift sneck of the car door and looked in horror as Bella raced across the clearing.

"Sorry," she whispered softly as she swarmed up a tree almost as big as mine. She climbed higher than I had, pressing herself against the trunk when she found herself perched on a branch some hundred feet off the ground. "I didn't feel very safe in the car."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" I hissed at her, having to raise my voice a little so she could hear me.

"Don't be a spoilsport. I'm not as helpless as I look, I just didn't feel like being a sitting duck." She murmured under her breath, knowing that I would hear her.

I bit back my cutting reply as two masked and goggled figures came slowly into view at the edge of the trees surrounding the jeep. I heard Bella take a long breath in and hold it, letting it back out in such a low soft gust that I could barely hear it myself.

Turning my attention back to the two figures on the ground, I watched as they made a careful survey of the jeep before edging toward it. They seemed to be in agreement that no-one occupied it as the fanned out, each moving around one end of the vehicle.

The comm. link in the ear of the one on the left crackled and I heard a muffled _"…above you…"_ before all hell broke loose.

They both turned their weapons upward into the tree in which Bella sat. I rushed forward and the bullets went wide. There was a strangled "Urk" and Bella dropped from the tree, hitting the ground with loud thump and a little squeal of pain. As I turned, one of the men brought his gun to bear on me and fired into my neck. The bullet made a pocking sound as it ricocheted off my hard flesh and lodged itself in a tree trunk. In the next instant, my hand had gripped his throat while the other divested him of the firearm. He had just time enough to let out a brief stab of fear and realisation.

As I sent his head and body flying in different directions I heard a yelp and turned in time to see Bella being hauled up by the other masked man and held in place against his chest with an arm under one shoulder, the hand digging painful fingers into her soft throat.

"Whoever the hell you are, stop that shit right now and stand where I can see you." I obliged and stepped into his line of sight. His wildly swinging gaze found and locked onto me. "Don't move a goddamn muscle. This little bitch is going to scream just like the others and you're going to stand there and watch her bleed."

Bella looked…bored.

I should have been able to rip him apart before he could do much harm to her but my anxiety for her safety held me in place. Apparently it was misplaced.

"If it's always the same, don't you get bored?" she asked, still struggling against his vicelike grip. "Wouldn't you like me to scream and bleed differently just for some variety?"

I cursed her smart mouth at that point, hoping that it didn't goad him into killing her before I could get the upper hand. I heard a soft squelch and a hiss from him. In the sliver of space between them I could see a small, barbed spike of grey tissue protruding from under her now filthy sweater. Its shaft carried on into some point in the man's torso. I heard a small vibration as the point withdrew, leaving a small trickle of blood in its wake. I tried to shut off my sense of smell as he struggled to understand what had happened. His small moment of confusion gave her the window she was looking for and she suddenly released the tension in her legs, letting herself drop through the man's grip to land on her ass.

In the split second it took for him to realise what had happened, I was already hurling myself at him, taking him back toward the tree. I heard Bella get to her feet behind me but could not turn to look at her. I stripped the night vision goggles from the man's face and took a long breath in through my nose. My eyes were drawn downward by the scent that invaded my nostrils and raced through my body, causing venom to spill in anticipation from my drawn back lips. I hissed. The man was also looking down at the branch that protruded from his stomach, glistening splinters dripping softly onto his black boots.

The last thing I remember were his eyes looking, horrified, into mine as the scent of his blood blotted out everything else. All I could feel was drumming, pounding red as I sank my teeth into his neck. I gave myself over to it and the world retreated.

"Will you wake up you goddamn ASS!" was the first thing I heard as I began to regain awareness of my surroundings. A pine cone rattled against my head and fell between my feet. I was huddled against the trunk of a tree with my hands over my head and it took more strength than I should have been able to muster not to attack he owner of the voice. _Bella. It's Bella. Shit. Zone out much? Asshole!_

"Jasper come on! Have your fucking man period some other time. I need you awake fucking now." Ah, how I loved her voice. Even as fucked up as I think I currently am, and how big of a fuckup I may have just made, there's not one inch of me that doesn't appreciate the absolute turn on of a classy woman saying dirty words.

"So…sorry, Bella. I..when he started bleeding…I'm sorry…I couldn't stop." I felt ashamed and couldn't bring myself to look up at her. Her small feet were inches away from mine and I could feel the air between us shudder with her frustration.

"Urrrrgh." I heard her clap a hand to her forehead. "I know that, dumbass. But we need to go. You said there was another one coming so let's fucking GO." She was yanking on my hands now, stubbornly trying to haul me to my feet.

I stood in a rush and heard her gasp. She planted her feet firmly and gave me a look that said she'd happily throw me over her shoulder and haul ass out of here if I didn't snap out of it.

"Hang on." I listened intently for a moment, covering her foot with one of my own when it started to tap in irritation. All was still.

"I don't hear anything. No heartbeat, no breathing. How long was I like that?" I grimaced, not liking the mental picture I conjured.

"About twenty minutes."

"What? Shit." I groaned. "If that's true then he's long gone. I think he has the infra red monitor which is how he warned these guys where you were sitting. I'm willing to bet he saw enough to make him high tail it out of here."

"If that's the case then we _really_ need to get going." She turned and walked to the jeep. "He'll be in contact with his superiors, if he hasn't been already. This is not a good time to stay put."

I ran to the driver's side of the jeep and jumped in, leaning across to unlock her door. She clambered in with a quick glance over her shoulder and slammed the door, locking it behind her. I started the engine and spun the wheel as she buckled her seatbelt. As I slammed the jeep through the trees, my mind raced at an inhuman pace through possible strategies, discarding each as they failed in some aspect or another and grasping for the next. I needed some input from my thus far silent passenger. I reached out a hand and grasped hers gently. I could relief flood both of us at the touch. I hadn't enjoyed the time I spent away from her. I hadn't enjoyed it at all. In the darkness, a small smile curved her lips.

"Darlin', we _will_ be talking about that little stunt of yours. But right now I need to know where to go when we hit the main road. I have some friends in Texas but I don't really want to head down that way if possible. Which way do you want to go?" I phrased it as calmly as I could, impressed so far by her composure but not wanting to press my luck.

"Can you get us on the I-70?"

"Sure, east or west?"

"East. It'll take us through Kansas and Missouri to St Louis."

"Why St Louis?" I absently handled the wheel as the wheels bit into the solid surface of the dirt track that led back to the main highway.

"No particular reason other than it's in roughly the right direction. From there I want to take a fairly direct route through Kentucky to North Carolina."

My eyebrows shot up and my grip on her hand increased.

"But you only escaped from there four months ago. If you go back, you'll be heading straight back into whatever twisted shit they're doing down there."

"Yeah, about that." Her voice raised a little and I felt a little guilt slip from her as she turned to look at me. "I'm not exactly, so much, running _away_ from these guys." She cleared her throat. "It's, erm…more of a…_toward_ motion."

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding! You choose to tell me this now? What the _fuck_, wench!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Soooooooooo sorry for the long wait. If you want to put me in the stocks and pelt me with fruit I won't put up a fight.**

**You guys ROCK. Beyond normal levels of rockness. I haven't written anything on this for three years and I still get reviews. You are a bunch of awesome fuckers :)**

**This is the fifth or sixth version of this chapter I've tried to write; for whatever reason it's just been tough getting to the story I know is in here *points to head* via this chapter. There's not much going on in it; I like the idea of a road trip so I'm not going to skip it and it's a fairly comfortable way to ease myself back into the characters and tone of the story after this long away from them. I don't expect reviews/comments; this is more of a fun 'sorry' than a chapter. Hope you enjoy it, next chapter is already started.**

**~Sin~**

**Previously on Supercharged… (I hate these 'previously on' things and I'm not going to do them every chapter but figured the length of this particular wait may have warranted one).**

"_**No particular reason other than it's roughly in the right direction. From there I want to take a fairly direct route through Kentucky to North Carolina."**_

_**My eyebrows shot up and my grip on her hand increased.**_

"_**But you only escaped from there four months ago. If you go back, you'll be heading straight back into whatever twisted shit they're doing down there."**_

"_**Yeah, about that." Her voice raised a little and I felt a little guilt slip from her as she turned to look at me. "I'm not exactly, so much, running **_**away**_** from these guys." She cleared her throat. "It's, erm…more of a…**_**toward**_** motion."**_

"_**Oh you have got to be kidding! You choose to tell me this now? What the fuck, wench!"**_

**Supercharged**

**Chapter Seven**

**Jasper POV**

I am _not_ sulking. I am…thinking without smiling.

"Jasper?" The kind of deep thinking that requires me to not answer the woman currently driving my jeep.

"Jasper? Jazz?" I have no idea what it is that I am thinking about, but it requires a lot of concentration. And silence. It also apparently requires me to cross my arms over my chest and stare out of the window.

There is a lot of pretty scenery to be appreciated while I am not sulking.

"I'm sorry, Jasper, I don't want to get into this right now. I have my reasons for going where I'm - we're - going, but I can only just manage whole sentences right now. Can't it wait until I've had some sleep and food? Please?"

How does she do that? How does she manage to make beaten-puppy eyes with her goddamn voice? Not that it does her any good. I am completely unmoved. There is no sense whatsoever of a persistent tugging at the corners of my mouth. I do not lose my resolve in the face of…_cuteness_. I am the Gunlord; I do not _lose_ anything.

Why am I looking at her again? There was pretty scenery to appreciate, trees to count, stars to…

Oh that's right, the sweater…

The scenery can wait; I have jiggling to appreciate. But it doesn't mean I have to answer her damnit.

_Fucking OUCH!_

"Hmmwha?"

Oh and now there's glaring. I miss the puppy eyes. Bring those bastards back.

"You hit me!" Historically speaking, I don't remember sounding this squeaky. Maybe the heating's turned up too high.

"You ignored me." She has the most delicious smirk. Wait…she hit me…I should be pissed about that.

_Stop _liking_ stuff damn you...damn me…damn someone. Shit._

"I was thinking." I really, _really_ wanted to look out the window again but my neck muscles refused to cooperate. I'd deal with their insurrection later.

"You made me drive so you could sit with your arms crossed. I'm thinking you were doing something beginning with S…can you guess what that might be?"

I glared at her. I'd had a lot of practice and I was damn good at it. She just raised an eyebrow and a corner of her mouth.

"You called me 'wench' and you don't see me…um…thinking…" She turned her eyes back to the road. Even her emotions were studiously not looking at me.

I snorted. How the fuck am I supposed to keep her in line and show her who's wearing the trousers if she keeps amusing me?

"That's better. Not exactly a smile but it'll do for now." She winked at me and her hand tapped out a simple rhythm on the steering wheel, her head bobbing along to the unknown track playing in her head. I pretended that the conversation had not gone quite so far in her favour and settled for trying to guess the tunes she was tapping.

**Bella POV**

A petulant vampire is a thing of beauty. Or, in this case, a golden teasing opportunity. I let it slide when he chose to ignore the fact that I'd caught him sulking and focused my attention instead on the smoosh-whoosh of the asphalt disappearing beneath the hood of the jeep.

I was keeping time to the soundtrack in my head with my fingers on the wheel when I noticed how raptly he was concentrating on my tapping. He's got an eidetic memory, I should be able to have fun with this. I tapped out a couple pop and rock songs, followed by a couple of country. I could almost feel the little frisson of recognition when he identified a tune. When I started tapping out Lady Gaga's Lovegame I felt the exact moment he realised what I was doing as a wave of accusatory mirth burst over me.

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. He has a wonderful laugh; his whole face lights up and he forgets that he doesn't like himself very much for just a little while. For some reason, though, the fact that we were laughing reminded me why we didn't really have anything to laugh about and mine petered out pretty fast as my mouth dried up.

_Jesus. I'm running for my life, albeit in the wrong direction and I've dragged this wonderful, kind man into this steaming pile of shite. He has no clue that I've already royally fucked up the lives of at least one group of vampires and could easily do the same for him. Danger magnet is not even close to describing the depths of my ability to attract a myriad of things that would leave us both in all likelihood mutilated beyond recognition by sunrise…and I'm sitting here making fun of him. What the fuck is wrong with me?_

**You really want an answer to that? 'Coz I can thing of a few th…**

_Shut up! I'm just…shut up OK? _

I couldn't help but feel ungrateful for not treating the situation with the gravity it deserved. How far was he going to go along with this before he got bored or decided it wasn't in his best interests to be involved? How long before the doubts started creeping in? I know how many of them there are; I've had most of them myself. Am I sane? Am I in the right? Am I to blame for any of this? Do I deserve help or should I just accept that I am in over my head here and do the decent thing and refuse to let someone get killed trying to protect me?

My hands gripped tighter as the song continued and I wondered briefly about the wisdom of my continued command of the steering wheel. I wasn't having a panic attack yet but that nasty cold feeling in my gut told me that my body was toying with the idea of having one in the near future. My only option, keep laughing.

**Jasper POV**

She's quick. It only took her two songs to figure out that I was playing a guessing game with them. And then she threw that at me. If I'd been human my sides would have be hurting as much as hers right now. Although I'd still be feeling a little smug. Gaga huh. 'Let's have some fun, this beat is sick, I wanna take a ride on your disco stick' tapped out with her fingers was as close to flirting as she'd gotten so far, which makes me think maybe I've lost my touch with women after so long alone.

Not that our current situation warrants me letting myself be distracted by the unerring tug I felt in her direction at times. She confuses the hell out of me but I can't deny that some dark little part of my mind has an inkling how hard it would be to put any kind of distance between us. Seeing as I have no intention of letting that happen I'm kinda enjoying it for now, but I'm aware that it could be a risk, too.

The vampire mind processes hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pieces of sensory and informational input per second. It analyses minutiae of the world around it that no other being in existence is aware of, let alone able to assimilate, quantify and react to in less than the blink of an eye. It makes differentiations between objects, abstracts, five dimensional positions, ethics and tactics that the most precise human instruments and minds would be unable to perceive in the most fundamental of ways.

But beneath that, in the dark place that simply _wants_, the universe is broken down into two very simple, essential aspects. There is blood, and there is not-blood. Since my turning all those years ago, through centuries of slaughter to decades of self-imposed starvation, I had never yet come across a worldly creature that registered in my vampiric senses as not-blood. Until now.

I could feel fear vibrating in her deep recesses, where she had pushed it, just as I could feel her courage soaring above it, flying into the eye of the storm as she was. She chose to laugh; I chose to join her. Yet there was a desperation to it, born not of unease but of exhilaration. She had asked me to join her on the battlefield, and I had accepted without a moment's hesitation. She did not ask because she felt the burgeoning knowledge between us of a life as yet unwritten; I did not accept because my dark, wanting place recognised the matching half to itself in her. The battlefield was where we wanted to be, and where we belonged, and we stepped onto its dark pastures with a song in our hearts.

Had the song not contained an annoyingly apt metaphor for vampire genitalia, the moment we were sharing could have been a great deal more poignant. As it was, her snorts of laughter grew too much for both of us; she peed her pants and I put a fist through the window. So much for shatterproof glass.

"Rest stop!" she squeaked. A swerve and a bump later and I found myself on the floor of the passenger side of the jeep, watching her phenomenal behind racing across the forecourt of the gas station toward the amenities.

I counted silently the seconds until she realised she had raced to the bathroom with a handbag full of mostly useless items but no replacements for her now unacceptably moist jeans.

Five-four-three-two-*twinge*

I sniggered at the blast of embarrassed comprehension and took my sweet time sauntering into the gas station to pick out a new item of clothing for her from the much limited emergency stock on the two rails at the back of the aisles. I couldn't hear her murderous mutterings at this distance but I could feel the quick little pangs that accompanied an internal monologue that was probably going something like "Jasper I swear…no pants…if you're not in there finding…damn you…crap no toilet paper…why're you taking so long…"

I took my purchase to the cashier, a young boy no more than eighteen, no acne but gangly, with a body that seemed to be made entirely out of knees. He looked at the item of clothing I had laid in front of him on the counter, and then he looked at me. He repeated this action once more, and came to the swift and chilly conclusion that he did not want to ask the very large, very pale person standing in front of him why he was buying a pair of size six, black leggings with sparkles on. He had, in point of fact, never wanted to _not_ ask someone a question so entirely in all his short life.

I kept my mouth in a straight line, handed over the cash, and winked at him. The fact that he managed to smile politely and thank me for my purchase, all the while experiencing that horrible stomach dropping out of your body feeling, made me think that maybe he was a born survivor. I made my way out of the gas station and across the forecourt as silently as possible. I had a little eavesdropping to do.

Unfortunately whatever muttering must have been going on had now finished, and I had to be satisfied with peeking. The tiny chink in the cloudy, prison type mini-window of the ladies' restroom afforded me a panorama I would remember until the day I ceased to exist. The legs of a pair of jeans hung from one of the basins where they were soaking in what smelled like a handsoap/water mixture. Bella stood leant over the basin next to it, her face close to the mirror and her arm's movements hinting that she was doing something very odd indeed. Pan downward, and there was an ass that probably beat Helen of Troy's face ten ways from Sunday. I think there was white lace but it was hard to tell as I was suddenly unable to drag my eyes away from the perfect, innocent curve of buttock meeting thigh.

It occurred to me as I hurried past to go smash my face repeatedly against a tree that my wish had come true; I was currently the only one wearing the trousers in this outfit.

When I returned a only a minute later I knocked politely on the restroom door and waited for her invitation before making my way inside the tiled room.

Her handbag lay open and looking slightly violated while Bella painted a small picture on the mirror with nail polish of several different colours. It now featured a Tinkerbell type fairy ready and waiting to moon future patrons with its small, pink bottom and lascivious grin. The face looked ever so slightly familiar but my brain pooh-poohed the idea as quickly as it arose.

"What are you doing?" I asked, puzzled.

"Painting." She didn't stop or turn her head to look at me.

"Whyyyyy?" I dragged out the one word question much in the manner of a three year old asking why the sky is blue. In a split second a pair of serious brown eyes were staring fervently into mine from a very short distance and a small, polish covered brush was being brandished in my line of sight.

"Because **THIS** is not a **CRAYON**." She emphasised each word with a brief flick of the brush.

**Bella POV.**

"Good answer. Gooood answer." He'd been grumbling that under his breath and nodding for the last two minutes while every other aspect of him seemed to have shut down completely. Philistine. Don't I get any points for creativity?

I considered slapping him dramatically to get him to snap out of it but I didn't want a shattered hand; I'm pretty sure it just wouldn't go with the sparkles on the pants Jasper had bought me. I settled for inching the nail polish brush in my hand closer and closer to his face. His golden eyes crossed adorably as the brush got close enough to paint a small dab of red on the end of his noise. Eyes crossed as far as they could cross, he shook his head and chuckled, leaning his forehead against mine for a brief moment.

I'd expected to have had to wrestle my new pants from him but he acquiesced surprisingly easily. When I exited the toilet cubicle wearing them, he seemed to deflate slightly. I pretended not to notice and dragged him out the door and back toward the jeep with my now damp but clean jeans slung over one arm. He made no complaint when I pushed him into the driver's side of the jeep, only turning his head in question as I slid into the passenger seat.

"Food and bed. Find somewhere with both of those things and we can stop for a few hours." He nodded and pulled smoothly out of the gas station and into the non-existent traffic.

As it turned out, my stomach was an excellent compass but a crappy early warning system. It led us to a promising looking motel with a restaurant attached. Unfortunately, it also led us to the unassuming van with blacked out windows that was sat in the parking lot.

We couldn't make ourselves look more suspicious by pulling out of the mostly empty parking area back onto the highway, so Jasper did the next most suspicious thing and parked us only a few spaces away from the van. He looked at me with an easy grin.

I was going to try really hard not to pee this pair of pants, too.

**~Sin~**

**Well...that went in a different direction than I thought it would. But yay for suspicious looking vans! And what is it with me and making Bella strip in public toilets? I don't have a fetish, I swear. :/ Totally stole the crayon line from Jack Dee, but I figure he'd be OK with that simply on the principle that sarcasm shared is a rare and wonderful thing. Until next time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ugh. Notifications were not sent out I think, so you may or may not have had one for this chapter. Or you may get two. lol**

**Thank you to all who are still reading or have started reading this story, especially to Adipocere for the first review of Chapter Seven :) **

**~Sin~**

**Supercharged**

**Chapter 8**

**Bella POV**

I cringed as the door to the van opened and one black suited leg stepped out, followed by another. It felt like the occupant was taunting us. Jasper's emotional climate dropped to subzero as the long seconds dragged out before the owner of the legs came into view. As a shoulder and the back of a head appeared I felt Jasper's confusion. As the van's occupant turned to look at us Jasper groaned and knocked his head silently against the steering wheel.

"You bastard," he muttered under his breath.

The van's occupant seemed to acknowledge his quiet words with his happy smile and wave of a pale hand. A very pale…oh…crap. He strode towards us, a little swagger evident in his gait. He knocked insolently on the jeep's roof just above Jasper's head and looked around him at everything but Jasper until he was acknowledged. Jasper rolled down the window without taking his forehead off the steering wheel. His voice was both weary and slightly amused when he spoke.

"What the fuck do you want, Peter?" He looked up then as a head with shaggy blond hair and a pair of MIB sunglasses dropped to window height and chuckled at us.

"World peace and a silky smooth bikini line?" the new guy said, his tone deadpan.

"Hi." I waved at him and he smirked at me lecherously with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Peter!" Jasper's exasperation gave me a general idea of just how much this Peter must enjoy annoying him, and others in general.

"Oh you're no fun any more, Jasper." Personal note: never do anything that will give this guy cause to pout; it's silly and adorable and, I would think, fairly impossible to deny. "Fine. I want to know why," he pointed a finger at me and twirled it in a lazy spiral, "a certain someone's gift can't see her."

He looked me over. Very thoroughly. His gaze was so intent I could almost feel it where it touched my skin. The area eight inches or so south of my chin apparently warranted more intense scrutiny before he was satisfied he'd covered it completely. Why did I get the impression that he did that more to piss Jasper off than anything else? It worked, because I felt rather than heard the impossibly low warning rumble from Jasper's chest. Peter cocked his head and shifted his eyes to his friend.

"Interesting," he said, more to himself than to us. Jasper sent him a look that said quite clearly that it was not remotely interesting and that he needed to drop that particular line of enquiry immediately. Peter just smirked.

"What do you mean can't see her?" Jasper opened his car door and then whizzed around the jeep to open mine for me while he waited for Peter's answer.

"Introductions first, my friend. And, no offence meant, but your lady looks like hell so I'm thinking food, then talk, then sleep for her and some real food for us. Capisce?" Peter took my hand again as he spoke and started dragging me toward the diner-cum-restaurant attached to the motel, not waiting to see if Jasper capisce-d or not.

I dragged my heels a little and gaped anxiously at Jasper. He just shrugged and waved me on with one hand as he trudged behind us. I took that to mean that our new arrival was mentally disturbed but relatively harmless. I would find out later that I had the first bit right but the second part correct only in relation to a chosen few. Jasper's blasé attitude didn't exactly help me to feel any safer with Peter though. I was assuming at this point that he was a friend, but not knowing Jasper's past, a friend could hail from any time or circumstances.

Once inside the restaurant, Peter bypassed the sign that said 'Please wait to be seated', dragged me across the room and twirled me once like a dancer before depositing me in a chair by the window. I noticed that Jasper headed to the restrooms rather than joining us, leaving me feeling a little awkward.

"So," I started nervously, "I guess we should look at the menu?"

"Excellent plan!" said Peter, handing me a menu and then pointedly not picking one up himself, but instead dropping his sunglasses to stare at me with a grin that had far too many teeth in it.

_Red eyes. Red eyes. Red eyes._

**Jasper POV**

I had only just closed my 'phone on my curt conversation with Alice when I felt Bella's fear. I didn't need to guess what the reason for it was, or rather who. I hurriedly put in some brown contact lenses to cover the two tiny flecks of red that had appeared in one eye and made my way out of the restroom. I spied my oldest friend seated across from my newest friend by the window; they seemed to be having a staring match. I realised why Bella was staring, unblinking, at Peter when I noticed that his sunglasses seemed to have 'slipped'. I cracked him across the back of the head hard enough to fell a small tree before taking a seat beside Bella. His toothy grin disappeared and he looked a little hurt.

"Introductions first you said, not scare tactics." I turned to look at wide brown eyes. "Bella, this fuck sandwich is Peter, my oldest friend. He's a gross imbecile but he would ~never~ hurt you."

"What's a gross imbecile?" Peter asked warily.

"Sixty-four times worse than an ordinary imbecile," Bella deadpanned back at him before I could speak. Peter grinned even wider than before.

"Can I keep her?" Surely he didn't just bounce in his chair.

"You want me to answer that or just tear an arm off?" I growled at him. He sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Bella." He was suddenly serious, which was never good. Bella accepted his proffered hand and I noticed his pupils dilate in curiosity as she applied infinitesimally more pressure than a human should have been able.

"Likewise, Peter. Should I ask why whatever brought you here warranted a personal visit rather than a 'phone call, or am I not going to like the answer to that one?" She ignored the fact that he was suddenly intent on her hand, turning it this way and that, but jerked it back with a warning hiss as he bent his head to take a deep sniff. He raised both hands in placation and said nothing. He was intrigued and would no doubt question me later. It wasn't as strong as an undercurrent I had felt from him since he got out of the van, though; he was more than just a little scared. That worried me greatly.

He ignored her question and asked one of his own instead.

"Does it bother you that I kill humans?" he asked.

"Does it bother you that I've killed vampires?" she shot back with a steady gaze. Peter and I both sat still in shock. He flicked his wide eyes to me and I shook my head, letting him know that this was news to me, too. I felt his respect for her bloom. But there was also that little niggle he gets when he decides that someone is worth annoying more than others. She was in for some surprises, I'd warrant. But then, so was he.

I could feel that she was in fact frightened by his red eyes, and we could both hear the tremor in her voice. But she wasn't lying.

He took her hand again, respectfully this time, and held her gaze.

"Jasper's right you know, I won't hurt you. I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'd let him rip my arms and legs off before I'd ever hurt you. I won't explain my choice of food, but then I wouldn't expect you to explain to me why you choose a burger instead of a salad." Bella digested this information.

"I figured you were pretty safe when Jazz let you drag me off without him. But it'll be a while before I can look at your eyes and not flinch, presuming you're even sticking around. I haven't had the most pleasant experiences with human drinkers. Don't take it personally if you make me jump sometimes." Her smile wobbled and there was a lot she wasn't saying. I hoped it was because she wanted to tell me privately. He nodded sagely, seeming to accept that she was afraid of the memories his eye colour evoked, not judging him by what they said about his lifestyle.

"She raises a good point, Peter. Are you gonna be staying around or did you just come to check things out for yourself because you're nosy?" There was no point in him denying the last part, and he didn't.

"That depends on you two, I guess," he answered. "But hold that thought for a while. The waitresses have finished playing rock, paper, scissors and the winner is about to make good on the honour of taking our orders."

He was right. A dumpy waitress roughly the shape of a butternut squash was making her way over to us with what she hoped was a sultry smile. Her emotions were basically screaming that she thought it was Christmas, and from the way her murky orbs swivelled between Peter and I, she didn't know which of us to give the most enthusiastic eye-fucking.

"Morning, folks. Is this a late night or an early start for you guys?"

"Uh...both? Oh man, just hearing the word 'morning' makes me want to go back to bed." Bella rested her forehead on the table and closed her eyes. The waitress giggled.

"Well, welcome to Silverthorne, wherever you've come from. I'm Sheryl and I'll be waiting on you this morning. Is there anything I can get you?"

"It's five fifteen in the morning and I'm going to go back to sleep as soon as my insides have stopped yelling at me," muttered Bella. "Just bring me something to drink with absolutely no caffeine and something to eat that's hot and brown."

The waitress scribbled on her pad with a little smile and turned to Peter expectantly. Eye-fucking aside, she was keeping things a lot more professional than either of us were probably used to. Poor lady, I could feel the mischief coming off Peter in waves. He made a flamboyantly camp arm gesture in my direction and sighed peevishly.

"You order for me. It's been so long since you took me out anywhere nice to eat I've forgotten what I usually have." His breath hitched just a fraction. "You know sometimes I think you just don't love me any more." His voice sounded choked toward the end and he wiped an imaginary tear as he turned, arms folded across his chest, to stare out of the window.

"I. Will. Get. You. For. This." I whispered low enough that neither of the two humans could hear it. Yet out of necessity I took up the role he had forced me into and sighed wearily. I turned apologetic eyes to our waitress, who had been greedily lapping up Peter's Oscar-worthy performance. Her feelings were mixed; a human female's always are when an attractive guy definitively withdraws himself from her biological imperative's search for a warm body. But the intrigue won over disappointment for this lady it would seem.

"We'll just have two large ribeyes, as rare as you can, please. Nothing to drink though, thank you." She gathered from my voice that my 'princess' and I had been down this road before and nodded sympathetically.

"I'll get those started for you. Sounds like you guys are a bit road weary; it makes the nerves a mite raw. Maybe some food and rest will perk you up some. If you like, I can 'phone through to the motel and get them to ready rooms for you?" For a human, she was pretty cool; she had a tough job and still managed to be thoughtful. I made a mental note to leave her a really good tip after our dinner-breakfast.

"That's kind of you, ma'am, we'd appreciate it."

"Beeeeeed!" groaned Bella, her face still pressed to the table top.

Sheryl - aw let's face it, I can't keep calling her 'the waitress' even in my head after she's been nice to us - smiled and nodded, moving off with a little more efficiency than she'd approached us. She hadn't seemed concerned about Peter's and my strangeness at any point; another point on the cool meter for her.

When our meals arrived I prodded Bella and propped her upright so she could see the food in front of her. She dive straight for the hot chocolate first, then proceeded to plough through about as much food as either Peter or myself weighed. I tried to figure out where the hell she was putting it, but for the life of me I couldn't and just ended up with a swirly kind of headache.

Peter and I tucked into our steaks with what we hoped was manly gusto. I had to put up with accusatory glances and the occasional sniff from him for the sake of appearances. In return, I made damn sure that at least three of the waitresses bustling quite quietly about overheard me calling him 'cupcake'. If he thought that that would be the extent of my retribution, though, he was sorely mistaken. I loved surprising my oldest and dearest friend, and there were a couple detachable aspects of his person that I thought would be all too fun to make my point with. He was probably the only vampire in existence who could get away with doing what he did and suffer only minor dismemberment rather than death.

Our check was paid by six and the sky was just beginning to lighten as we urged Bella to stand and made our way toward the exit. We both chivvied her quietly to stay upright just long enough to reach the room that had been made available for us next door. Sheryl was waiting to see us out.

"My lady!" Peter exclaimed as he kissed Sheryl's hand goodbye with a flourish. His expression straightened out as he stood upright and he hmmphed at me, placing his palm squarely in front of my face before flicking his hair and sashaying out of the building. Eyes screwed shut and fists clenched with a semi-conscious human leaning against my back for support, all I could do was chant my new mantra over and over.

"Don't kill him don't kill him don't kill him." Sheryl giggled.

"How long have you two been together?" She cut her eyes at Peter's retreating form, genuinely interested.

"More years than I would care to count, ma'am." I smirked and bowed just a fraction in thanks before leading an almost comatose Bella out of the doors by her arm.

By the time I had made it around the side of the building with Bella in tow, Peter had already procured our room key and was twirling it on one finger as he waited for us to catch up. He was grinning from ear to ear but said nothing, merely looped his arm through one of Bella's and helped me buffer her as we walked. Our room was at the very end of the row. Considering our predicament and whatever violence I may do to Peter, I figured that was a very good thing indeed.

The inside was basic and clean, with two large twin beds covered in soft quilts. My military instincts wouldn't let me bring my friends farther into the room without checking it out first so Peter stood in the doorway with Bella hanging off him like a ventriloquist's dummy until I was satisfied that neither the bathroom nor the closets were harbouring men in black or portals to unknown dimensions. I nodded and he brought her over to the bed farthest from the window; we both automatically thought to put the most space between her and it. We eased Bella into a sitting position on the end of the mattress and she grinned at us dopily like a little drunk as I removed her shoes and Peter her jacket. I held up a finger.

"One moment. Don't go anywhere." She snorted.

I ducked lightning fast and grabbed Peter by the ankles and stood back up, bringing him with me. He made a strange sound then hung motionless.

"OK, princess," I said, "how's about we have just a few more answers before I start removing parts for that little display in there?" I found that I was only half joking. Or maybe one third. Luckily for Peter, he'd been around me long enough to know that I was just about vexed enough to tear something off if he didn't answer. Being the man I have come to know and...tolerate...he started to babble.

"Just chilling... Char and me... 'phone call... Alice couldn't see... told me... come here or something would... didn't know... Char's checking... your horses OK... I came... thought the van... so funny... shoulda seen... your face was... future disappeared... you were clear but... fuzzy somehow... mug of blood... blank spot... someone with you... had to otherwise... can't stand... Cullens... would have come..."

His babblings were cut off by a sharp intake of breath. We both turned around to see Bella's face go whiter than a sheet. Her eyes danced frantically between us both and she made several gasping fish motions with her mouth before she could speak.

"Cullens? You know...Alice?!" Consciousness ended at this point and she fell back on the bed, out cold.

**~Sin~**

**Oh dear god it's 4AM. If there are mistakes, please forgive them until I can recheck tomorrow and correct them. Why do the ideas have to keep flowing long after I want to go to bed?**

**I am gonna give you guys the choice as to whether or not there was any kind of friendship between Bella and two of the Cullens. As soon as this chapter is posted, you'll find a poll up in my profile. I will stick by whatever gets the most votes by the time I get to writing the passage describing their relationships, but please note that votes made in reviews will not be counted. The options are: **

**Friends with both Alice and Rose**

**Friends with Rose; Alice is unfriendly**

**Friends with Alice; Rose is unfriendly**

**Bella dislikes them both but Alice wants to be friends**


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